Australians and Kiwis alike can’t get enough of New York, it seems, with Qantas stepping up to six flights a week on the Sydney-Auckland-New York route to keep up with demand.
The marathon route – which take a total of 21 hours from end to end, including a brief stopover at Auckland – currently runs four days a week.
However, starting October 10, QF3 will depart Sydney and Auckland every day of the week except Tuesday.
Review:Qantas Sydney-Auckland-New York in business class
It’s a big boost for the Big Apple, and comes as Air New Zealand prepares the launch of its own upgraded Boeing 787s with modern business class seats, to narrow the premium gap against Qantas.
Read more:Air New Zealand’s 787 business class revamp adds ‘luxe’ suites
However, facing a shortage of aircraft, AirNZ’s own Auckland-New York flights run just three times a week – and most business and leisure travellers prefer a schedule with fewer gaps when it comes to planning their trip.
Read more:Business class to New York – Qantas vs Air New Zealand
And while Qantas’ New York flights are aimed primarily at the Australian market, the airline says as many as 20% of seats are being booked by Kiwis, and not just for New York but with onwards connections across the Atlantic to London and Europe on Oneworld partners such as British Airways, Iberia and American Airlines.
“Because it starts in Sydney and goes through Auckland we pick up two points of sale,” says Alexandra O’Connor, Qantas’ regional manager for New Zealand, adding “now we’re getting repeat business so that Kiwi percentage of the plane is growing.”
Speaking with Grant Bradley at the New Zealand Herald, O’Connor also hinted at more Qantas and Jetstar flights into New Zealand to be announced in the coming months.
“There’s definitely some things that we’re looking at across both brands.”
As previously reported, Qantas is considering restarting Perth-Auckland flights which could feed more Gotham-bound passengers across from the west, along with more ambitious non-stop routes to the likes of Athens, Seattle, Chicago and Las Vegas.
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MarkivJ
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MarkivJ
22 Jan 2018
Total posts 99
I don’t know if I’d call a Seattle route as “ambitious” seeing as they already fly SYD- YVR.
Himeno
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Himeno
12 Dec 2012
Total posts 1025
The idea of flying to SEA would be to hook into the AS hub and get onward connections, as they do with AA at DFW.
Becky1
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Becky1
Jetstar Airways - Qantas Frequent Flyer
04 May 2018
Total posts 16
If the AKL-JFK are so successful in NZ, and QF expecting the PER-AKL to be equally successful (Europe-PER-AKL-JFK and v.v), and QF eying flights to ORD (amongst others), then would a B789 flight PER-MEL-AKL-ORD make sense for QF? Or does QF make more money from Melbournians flying codeshare flights on EK metal to Europe, and its own metal to LAX/DFW then codeshare with AA?
UpUpAndAway
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UpUpAndAway
QF
11 Jul 2014
Total posts 977
I did Singapore to Newark last month and currently on a flight Seattle to Singapore, the point I would make is inflight service is a big factor as well to get people on that route. Qantas needs to pick up there game.
Boeing-Tragic
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Boeing-Tragic
Virgin Australia - Velocity Rewards
24 Jan 2018
Total posts 731
Nailed it. I'm guilty of assuming the pilots are always competent and accomplished at their craft, but as a pax I never engage with them. Cabin staff, on the other-hand, are the people who have the greatest influence as to whether I fly with that airline again. And it's the inflight service they provide that gets my attention. Anything less that great service and its "Houston, you have a problem". Good cabin staff matter.
Serg
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Serg
QFF
12 Apr 2013
Total posts 1538
Never say never. If you became unfortunate enough to struck with not so attentive crew it would be wrong to assume that ALL crew on ALL routes on this airline will be the same. Of course there are tendencies, but generally speaking it is no more than luck or absent of it.
pkjames
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pkjames
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
21 Jan 2017
Total posts 51
just finished the QF3 flight, it is actually quite awesome. A short stop in AKL and one sleep on the plane, you are in NYC! The arrival is quite good as well, by the time you get to hotel, it is dinner time.
The plane was a full flight, so whilist I can't imagine doing a 16+ hours flight in Y, there are plenty of demand for a somewhat "direct" flight. I also saw limited pax going through the transit gate, suggesting a lot of the Kiwis are joining from AKL.
jeffball
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jeffball
05 May 2021
Total posts 2
I just did this flight twice recently. Both were bad experiences.
I was flying BNE to AKL to JFK. The Brisbane to AKL flight was delayed, so Qantas sent me to LAX and then Delta from LAX to NYC. 15 hours late. And I was downgraded from Premium Economy to Economy on Delta, with no compensation by Qantas.
On the flight home, the plane was diverted to Fiji because of fuel issues. Then I missed the BNE connection, so Qantas sent me to Sydney and then domestic to Brisbane. I was flying business class, but on the AKL to Sydney and Sydney to BNE was downgraded to economy, against with no compensation. Only 7 hours late for this trip.
The crew told me that at least once a week the flight from JFK is diverted to Fiji.
I am not flying Qantas again.
Johns
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Johns
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
01 Apr 2017
Total posts 30
Which airline would you recommend, and presumably will travel now, for this trip in the future ?
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