EXTRA AIRLINE CAPACITY ADDED FROM USA

American Airlines

Sydney and NSW will receive a boost in visitors from the USA following an expansion of the Qantas and American Airlines partnership. New services have been added from Los Angeles to Sydney with American Airlines, and San Francisco to Sydney with Qantas. Destination NSW Chief Executive Officer Sandra Chipchase welcomed the announcement of extra services from one of the State’s key inbound visitor markets.

“Sydney is Australia’s number one destination for visitors from the USA with 60% of visitors from this market travelling here each year. The announcement of extra services will see more Americans arriving to discover our fantastic State and that’s great news for NSW,” Ms Chipchase said.

As part of the expanded partnership, Sydney will welcome a new airline, American Airlines, which will commence daily Sydney-Los Angeles services on a 310-seat B777-300ER aircraft in December this year, subject to regulatory approval.

Qantas currently operates up to 20 frequencies per week to and from the USA mainland and this new partnership with American Airlines will see this increase to 29 per week. The airline will launch its Sydney-San Francisco service, departing five to six times per week, in December this year on a 364-seat B747-400ER, subject to regulatory approval. Qantas will continue to operate its Sydney-Dallas service six or seven times per week.