Australia’s national airline Qantas will fly non-stop from Bengaluru to Sydney and is finalising a codeshare partnership with IndiGo to make travel between India and Australia easier.
From September 14, Qantas will operate four weekly return flights between Kempegowda International Airport in Bengaluru and Sydney’s Kingsford Smith International Airport with its widebody Airbus A330 aircraft.
These are the first direct flights between Australia and southern India by any airline, cutting almost three hours off the current fastest trip between Bengaluru and Sydney.
The Bengaluru community has strong connections with Australia for both business travel and people visiting friends and relatives.
Qantas will continue to operate up to five flights a week between Melbourne and Delhi.
Ronojoy Dutta, Chief Executive Officer, IndiGo, “Once finalised, this new partnership will enable the Qantas customers to fly to more than 50 unique cities on IndiGo via Bengaluru, Delhi, and Singapore with the access of 41, 33, and 6 destinations per station respectively.”
“We believe that this strong partnership will not only create seamless connectivity between India and Australia, but also create opportunities for trade and tourism as both nations experience an influx of tourists again,” he added.
Travellers are also set to benefit from improved one-stop access to Sydney from more than 50 Indian cities, as part of a proposed codeshare agreement between Qantas and IndiGo.
Once finalised, customers will have more convenient access from not only the major Indian cities, but many popular regional cities such as Pune and Goa.
Qantas Group CEO Alan Joyce said demand for direct flights between Australia and India had grown steadily since both countries reopened their borders.
“For the first time southern India will have a direct connection to Australia, which will make travel between the two countries more convenient and much faster for customers,” said Joyce.
“The signing of the Australia-India free trade agreement will also drive travel demand as trade and investment links expand between Australia and India’s population of more than one billion people,” he added.
The proposed codeshare agreement will enable seamless connections via Bengaluru, Delhi, or Singapore into Australia’s largest capital cities.
As part of the proposed agreement, customers who join the Qantas Frequent Flyer program will be able to earn and redeem points on connecting IndiGo flights (QF code only) and IndiGo will recognise Qantas Frequent Flyer benefits for tiered members (Silver, Gold, Platinum and Platinum One) including priority check-in, additional baggage allowance and priority baggage.
Qantas customers travelling on IndiGo will enjoy the same baggage allowance for the entire journey as well as complimentary food and drinks.
The partnership will extend to Jetstar customers who will be able to book connecting flights on IndiGo services through its Jetstar Connect platform on jetstar.com, currently intended to start from late April.
IndiGo will introduce reciprocal benefits for its customers to connect on Qantas and Jetstar in the future.
Sydney-Bengaluru flights go on sale today starting from ₹78,380 return.
Qantas continues to offer a Fly Flexible booking policy with unlimited flight date changes available on flights booked before 30 June for travel until 31 December 2022 (fare difference may apply).
Hari Marar, MD & CEO, Bangalore International Airport Ltd said, “Australia is a very important market for South India and Bengaluru in particular, for corporates, students and leisure travellers.”
“South India contributes the largest share of visitors between Australia and India with Bengaluru strategically located in the midst of the South Indian peninsula,” he added.