Forget about that overseas holiday: Qantas cancels all international flights until MARCH next year
Qantas pulls international flights from website, including ones to New Zealand Qantas says 'sale flights' are removed until further notice due to coronavirus
Move follows CEO saying international flights unlikely to resume until July 2021
By LOUISE STARKEY FOR DAILY MAIL AUSTRALIA
PUBLISHED: 00:21 EDT, 14 July 2020 | UPDATED: 02:21 EDT, 14 July 2020
All international flights have been pulled from the Qantas website, including routes to New Zealand.
Flights to New Zealand are now unavailable until September 1, despite expectations that the neighbouring countries were preparing to open a trans-Tasman bubble with Australia, while flights elsewhere are no longer available until March 28, 2021.
Travel between the countries remained suspended after New Zealand closed its borders to the world on March 19.
A Qantas spokesman told Daily Mail Australia 'all international and sale flights have been removed from the website' until further notice due to the coronavirus pandemic.
He did not confirm whether flights to New Zealand would resume from September 1, just that they were able to be viewed on the Qantas website.
'There are some international flights in the system but they are not currently operating,' he said.
Travellers looking to head overseas can still book trips through the Qantas website, however.
Flights to the US, Asia and Europe will now be serviced through partner airlines, including Emirates, British Airways and Cathay Pacific.
The move was designed to prevent new bookings being made with Qantas. All previously arranged flights will remain in place.
Qantas' decision comes jusat weeks after the airline slashed 6,000 jobs - 20 per cent of its workforce - and chief executive Alan Joyce predicted international flights were unlikely to resume until July 2021.
'We have never experienced anything like this before - no-one has. All airlines are in the biggest crisis our industry has ever faced,' he said in June.
Qantas to cut at least 6,000 jobs as part of COVID-19 recovery plan
'Revenues have collapsed, entire fleets are grounded and the world biggest carriers are taking extreme action just to survive.
'IATA –the peak body for airlines – says it will take more than three years for global travel to return to 2019 levels.'
The international flight suspension followed the carrier's decision to ground its fleet of double-decker A380 plans for at least three years, and also to retire six Boeing 747s, Executive Traveller reported.
Airlines still travelling to and from Australia with cargo and essential travellers include Delta, United, Air New Zealand and Qatar Airways, the Australian Embassy confirmed.
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