Qantas: China Flights suspended

Qantas has announced that it is suspending direct flights to two of its mainland China services from 9 February to 29 March 2020:

• Sydney – Beijing QF107 and QF108 on A330
• Sydney – Shanghai QF129 and QF130 on A330

Qantas had previously advised of the suspension of the Sydney Beijing service as of 23 February – so they are just bringing that forward to 9 February.

These suspensions come in the light of the outbreak of Coronavirus in Wuhan in mainland China.

In selecting a date to suspend services Qantas is working to balance high passenger numbers in both directions – including Australian residents wanting to return home from China – with the various travel restrictions being applied. The suspension may be brought forward if demand levels or other factors change. The date for flights to resume will also be regularly reviewed based on the circumstances.

Qantas Media Release

There are no changes scheduled for Qantas services to Hong Kong.

Logistics v economics

Qantas is arguing that entry restrictions imposed by other countires like Singapore and the USA are impacting the movement of crew, and that these restrictions impose ‘significant logistical challenges for rostering crew to operate mainland China services’.

I think that means that it is not economic to solve these logistic issues!

What to do if you have an affected booking

Qantas will contact you – or you can contact Qantas. This announcement does not affect Qantas codeshare arrangements on China Eastern and China Southern flights.

2PAXfly Takeout

Crew, management, and the Qantas accountants are probably sighing with relief over this decision. There will undoubtedly be a slump in travel between China and Australia during this period, so let their two Chinese partners (China Easter and China Southern) shoulder the economic loss.

This decision, quite wisely, will be reviewed pending the changing advice of the World Health Organisation and the Australian Government’s travel advice.