Qantas has announced that it will increase capacity on the Sydney-Tokyo route from July due to buoyant demand from leisure travellers and an expected increase in business traffic.
Qantas currently operates daily services on the route with an Airbus A330-300, but from July 5 it will introduce two-class Boeing 747-400s on six of the services, while the remaining service will be operated by an A330-200. The net effect will be an increase of 1256 seats on the route each week.
Qantas CEO Alan Joyce said that the market was expected to grow considerably. “The growth comes on the back of increased travel to Japan by Australians, particularly in the leisure and VFR (visiting family and friends) markets.”
“Japan is also a key gateway for North East Asia traffic, particularly Korea, so this additional capacity will allow Qantas to grow this market.”
The increase in capacity comes after years of Qantas reducing its services to Japan, and now only operates services from Sydney and three times weekly services from Perth to Japan. By contrast, Jetstar’s Japanese services have grown significantly, with the low cost subsidiary operating a number of services to Osaka and Tokyo from ports including Sydney, Cairns and the Gold Coast.
