Flights from Brisbane to Chicago, Seattle or Vancouver may be on the cards in the wake of a decision by Qantas to base four of its long-haul Boeing 787-9  Dreamliners in the Queensland capital.

The Australian carrier announced the decision Tuesday and said all four Brisbane-based aircraft would be in place by the end of 2018.

The decision is expected to generate 470 direct and indirect jobs and opens up the possibility of new tourism-generating routes to North America or even though its Perth hub to Europe.

The flying kangaroo is using its Melbourne-based 787s to fly to non-stop to London from March and it has indicated it may also look at other destinations such as Paris. The 787 first route will be Melbourne- Los Angeles in December.

Read: Paris tipped as next Qantas nonstop.

Brisbane is expected to get its first aircraft from mid-2018 and Qantas boss Alan Joyce said  it would offer a step change in comfort and efficiency.

“Each aircraft we base in Brisbane brings new jobs,’’ Joyce said. “One hundred and twenty of our Dreamliner cabin crew and pilots will be based in the city, with many choosing to settle in the state. A further 350 indirect jobs are expected to be created as a result.”

Joyce did not reveal where the planes would fly but the announcement noted they made possible non-stop routes to Seattle, Chicago and San Francisco in the US, Vancouver in Canada and Asia.

“We’ve said that initially our Dreamliners will replace the routes that our older 747 fly but there are also new destinations we are looking at given the capability of the aircraft,’’ he said..

“A range of exciting options is on the table that will help drive tourism to the state and we look forward to making that decision in coming months.

The airline will take delivery of its first Dreamliner in mid-October and is expected to fly it initially on domestic routes such as Melbourne-Perth.

Although the planes are new to the mainline operation, the group has experience flying the type through B787-8s operated by budget offshoot Jetstar.

Queensland is the birthplace of Qantas and it operates 58 return, direct international services each week from Brisbane to Auckland, Christchurch, Queenstown, Hong Kong, Los Angeles, Noumea, Port Moresby, Singapore and Tokyo.

It has a maintenance facility in the city and has been upgrading its lounges at the city’s airport.

The agreement to establish the new base was part of a “coordinated proposal” by the Queensland Government, Brisbane Airport Corporation, Brisbane Marketing and Tourism Australia.

It comes as Brisbane Airport is building a new runway that will double capacity as it  cements its position as a major Australian gateway.

Airport chief executive Julieanne Alroe described the announcement as a vote of confidence for Queensland and a significantly and timely announcement by Qantas.

“These new aircraft have a flight range of nearly 16,000 kilometres (8,500 nautical miles), opening up a new world of opportunities, securing opportunities in the tourism, trade, investment, business and education sectors for many years to come,’’ she said. .

“For Queensland travellers it will mean having access to more non-stop ultra-long haul routes direct from Brisbane in an aircraft that offers unparalleled passenger comfort, while also positioning Brisbane as the new gateway for access into North America.’’

Qantas has also challenged manufacturers Airbus and Boeing to refine their ultra-long range jets to allow it to fly from Sydney to London or New York non-stop.

Aerolineas Argentinas is hoping a codeshare agreement with Gulf carrier Etihad Airways will help strengthen its presence in the fast-growing Asian market.

The Argentinian carrier has partnered with Abu Dhabi-based Etihad to codeshare on its flights from Buenos Aires to Rome and Madrid and on connecting flights across the Gulf carrier’s network of more than 100 destinations.

Also in the pipeline is the ability for members of the airlines’ loyalty programs to earn and redeem points on each other flights.

“This is a very good opportunity to consolidate and increase our offer to one of the most important hubs in the Middle East,’’ Aerolineas chief commercial officer Diego Garcia said in a statement. “It also allows us to improve our load factors, optimise the use of the fleet and strengthen the image of Aerolíneas Argentinas in the Asian market.

“We hope that this agreement will also be the gateway for many tourists to visit some of the most attractive landmarks in our country.”

The agreement gives Etihad customers access to Bueno Aires and nine other Argentinian destinations: Córdoba, Mendoza, Rosario, Iguazú , Salta, Mar del Plata, Bariloche , Trelew  and Ushuaia.

Read our review of Etihad.

The Gulf carrier axed its service to South America earlier this year when it dropped flights between Abu Dhabi and Sao Paulo, Brazil.

The carrier subsequently reported  a $US1.87 billion net loss and announced it would no longer support loss-making investments in Alitalia and airberlin.

Read: Airline chiefs generally upbeat as Etihad posts massive $US1.87bn loss.

The 2016 loss included a $US1.06 billion charge from writing down the value of aircraft and a further $US808 million hit its investments in the beleaguered European carriers, both of which are now in administration.

The downturn came as Middle Eastern carriers grappled with increased competition, a downturn in oil prices that affected their home markets and the impact of terrorism on Europe.

Dallas-Fort Worth and Houston still have a huge lead when it comes to international fights to the Lone Star State, but once-sleepy Austin is adding a slew of new routes.

From  March 27, 2018 low-fare Norwegian launches nonstop service from Austin-Bergstrom International (AUS) to London Gatwick.

This presages a  battle with British Airways, which already offers nonstop AUS – London Heathrow flights. Before BA’s flight you had to fly or drive 180-miles (289 km)  north to Dallas-Fort Worth, or 155-miles (249 km) southeast to Houston’s Bush Intercontinental Airport to catch a nonstop European flight.

Norwegian plans to fly 787s on the Gatwick run; BA already employs the long-legged, fuel-efficient Boeing on the route.

Meanwhile, German low-fare carrier Condor is adding a third weekly AUS – Frankfurt flight. The route’s being flown with a venerable 767-300ER, an aircraft that’s fading fast from passenger service around the world.

March also sees short-lived nonstop service from the Texas city to Amsterdam Airport Schiphol. The occasion is SXSW (South by Southwest), a cross-generational mecca that’s part conference, part film festival and all cutting-edge.

Delta will also use a 767-300 on the route and service is set for March 8, 9 and 14, 2018. It goes away after that.

There’s  also more service to Mexico City on

Aeromexico; flights on low-fare Volaris to Guadalajara, San Jose Del Cabo and Cancun on Southwest Airlinesp; and Air Canada to Toronto.

On the domestic scene,  Delta just started nonstop A319 flights from Austin to Seattle-Tacoma, one of Delta’s international gateways.  Along the East Coast,  Delta recently began nonstop Austin-Boston flights.

Ultra-low fare Frontier is doubling the number cities served from Austin to 16. New routes include Charlotte, Cincinnati, Columbus, Ohio; New Orleans, Phoenix, Raleigh/Durham, Ontario, California and San Jose, California. This latter destination is important for Austin businesses, further connecting the two centers of high-tech research and manufacturing.

As for the bigger picture, Austin-Bergstrom in May (the last full month for which figures were available) set a new passenger record with 1,217,824 flyers traveling through the former US Air Force base.

Qantas is to undertake a major upgrade of its 12 A380s to improve passenger comfort on long haul flights and tap the growing market for premium travel.

Structural changes are focused on the upper deck where 30 economy seats will be removed and some partitions and a crew workstation rearranged to use space more effectively.

This will allow for an additional six Business Class and 25 Premium Economy seats, increasing the overall seat count on the aircraft by one and increasing premium seating by 27 per cent.

Read: Qantas challenges Airbus and Boeing for more performance for new non-stops 

Other elements of the refurbishment program include:

Replacing Business Class Skybeds with the latest version of Qantas’ Business Suites with every seat having direct aisle access.

Installing the airline’s new Premium Economy seat in a 2-3-2 configuration. This seat is almost 10 per cent wider than the model it replaces and will debut on the 787 Dreamliner later this year.

Reconfiguring the front of the A380’s upper deck to redesign the passenger lounge to provide more room for First and Business Class customers to dine and relax.

Enhancing First Class, which remains in its current configuration on the lower deck.
Qantas says each suite will be fully refurbished, including contoured cushioning and a larger, higher resolution entertainment screen.

Economy also comes in for some treatment with new seat cushions and improved inflight entertainment.

The airline says work on the first A380 is expected to begin in the second quarter of the calendar year 2019.

All 12 aircraft will be upgraded by the end of 2020.

Qantas Group CEO Alan Joyce said “customers love the A380.

This upgrade is a major investment in putting the next generation of seats on the aircraft as well as more creature comforts to maintain its status as one of the best ways to fly,” said Mr Joyce.

“We’re seeing increased demand for Premium Economy and Business Class on the long-haul routes that the A380 operates, including from people using their Qantas points to upgrade.

“When you combine this upgrade with the other investments we’ve been making in new aircraft and new cabins, it will give us consistency with our premium seats across the A380, A330 and incoming 787 Dreamliner,” added Mr Joyce.

There are some airlines whose customer service staff could be described as robotic but Air New Zealand has never been one of them — until now.

The carrier has teamed with one of Australia’s big four banks to run a trial at Sydney Airport using a “social humanoid robot” to greet passengers.

Similar trials using robots have been conducted elsewhere, notably at Amsterdam’s Schiphol airport.

Read about Amsterdam’s robot.

Shenzen Boa’am International Airport in the southern Chinese province of Guangdong has even had a taser-armed “robocop” on duty.

Read about China’s robocop.

In this case, the robot is a friendlier chap called Chip and his role is to help AirNZ customers check in and at the gate prior to boarding.

Chip can read a boarding pass, for example, and reassure customers they are in the right place.

The experiment with the Commonwealth Bank is one of number of projects the Kiwi carrier is investigating after placing a bigger emphasis on using technology to offer a better experience to customers.

They include, Oscar, an  artificial intelligence–backed chatbot has been introduced to assist customers with a more personalised online experience or biometric bag drops which identify customers using facial recognition.

“We are also experimenting with potential enhancements of the future, including the idea of our cabin crew one day using Microsoft’s HoloLens augmented reality viewers on board our aircraft,” says Air New Zealand chief digital officer Avi Golan.

Commonwealth Bank has been looking at social robotics since 2016 to investigate how robots such as Chip they can be used in a commercial context.

The bank’s general manager of innovation labs, Tziana Bianco, believes the airport trial is good example of why companies would invest in social robotics and how they can bring to life information that can be boring when delivered on a screen.

“People interact with them in a very social and sometimes emotional way, which means they can enhance experiences in ways that other technologies are unable to do,” Ms Bianco says.

“Chip is one of the most advanced humanoid robots in the world, and is perfect for our work aimed at understanding how humans and robots interact in dynamic social spaces.”

There may be less enthusiasm among customer service staff who have been watching in action a competitor for their jobs during the five-day trial, which ends Friday.