QANTAS: More short-haul international flights for Brisbane

Brisbane will now host direct flights with Qantas on short-haul internationl flights to the capital of New Zealand, Wellington, and to Apia, the capital of pacific independent state, Samoa. Flights will commence late in October this year, operating larger aircraft more frequently to these destinations.

Wellington, New Zealand

The Wellington/Brisbane route launched late in 2023, and this increase in capacity is a reaction to the success of the route across the ditch for New Zealanders wanting to sample the warmth of Queensland beaches and sunshine staters who want to experience the pleasures of the North Island of Aotearoa.

Qantas had been flying Embraer E190s daily between Brisbane and Wellington, but this will be upgraded to Boeing 737 aircraft, which adds about 600 seats per week to the route.

Air New Zealand also runs daily direct flights between Brisbane and Wellington.

Apia, Samoa

The changes to this Brisbane/Apia route are less radical. Qantas will seasonally adjust the three flights per week to five per week between mid-December 2024 and mid-January 2025. That’s a few hundred extra weekly seats on these Boeing 737 flights.

Virgin Australia also runs direct flights on the five-hour route between Brisbane and Apia Samoa. However, the Virgin Australia flights are cheaper but badly timed, leaving at 7:30 in the evening and arriving at 3:25 am. The Qantas flights leave at 10 pm and arrive at 6:00 am. To balance that, the cost of the Virgin Australia flights is about two-thirds of the cost of Qantas.

Bookings are open for both of these routes now.

2PAXfly Takeout

This brings the number of non-stop international routes out of Brisbane operated by Qantas to 11.

The increase in international routes to Brisbane reflects the population growth the state of Queensland is experiencing. Based on that trend continuing, Brisbane will become increasingly important for international flying. All would be well if it could just sort out the transport link between the domestic and international terminal.