Japanese growth prompts new Qantas route

Qantas is ramping up flights to Tokyo in response to a growth in Japanese visitors to Australia and as part of a strategy that has seen the full-service airline increase capacity on Asian routes by 17 per cent.

A new daily service between Melbourne and Tokyo’s Narita International Airport from December 16 will be operated with upgraded two class Airbus A330-300s.  Budget offshoot Jetstar will pull off the same route in February next year.

 The 297-seat Qantas planes have the airline’s latest product, including its cutting-edge business suite, and squarely aimed at the premium market.

The move will take pressure off the airline’s existing Sydney-Tokyo (Haneda) and Brisbane -Tokyo (Narita) services and comes as the completion of the A330 upgrade program frees up extra capacity.

It also capitalises on a 17 per cent growth in Japanese visitors to Australia in 2015-16, as the destination gained from the troubles in Europe, and a boost in the number of Australians flying to Japan of  24 per cent.  Japanese spending in Australia rose 14 per cent to $A1.5 billion over the same period.

Qantas and Jetstar will both operate flights from Melbourne to Narita during the December -February holiday peak, with Jetstar ceasing direct flights from February 25.

Qantas International chief executive Gareth Evans said the new service built on Qantas’ long history of flying to Japan and a “boom time for tourism and business travel” on the market. It was also part of a "larger piviot to Asia'' that saw Qantas boost capacity on Asian routes by 17 per cent last financial year.

“The Qantas Group is perfectly placed to support the resurgent growth we’re seeing, with the biggest Australia-Japan network, the biggest domestic network in Australia, and the biggest low-cost carrier network in Japan through Jetstar,’’ Mr Evans said in a statement.

 “Our dual-brand strategy and the size of our fleet means we have the ability to move quickly to meet demand where it’s strongest, putting the right aircraft on the right route.’’

The new route is already on sale and Jetstar customers booked on the LCC’s Melbourne-Tokyo (Narita) flights from February 26 will be reaccommodated on the Qantas service.

 Jetstar continues to operate direct international services from the Gold Coast and Cairns to Tokyo (Narita) and Cairns to Osaka.