Today marks the start of the International Air Transport Association (IATA) northern summer scheduling period, an industry-wide changeover date when airlines adjust their schedules for the northern hemisphere summer season. (27 March also marks the start of daylight savings in Europe for 2022, which is why this otherwise arbitrary date is used for the changeover.)

The IATA scheduling periods have major implications for airlines in terms of airport slots. Perhaps more interesting for the general public, though, is that airlines often use the changeover date to launch new routes – or cancel existing ones. March 2022 is no exception, with around a dozen new international air routes launching (or relaunching) from Australia over the coming days.

British Airways and LATAM Airlines are both now returning to Australia after a two-year break to the pandemic. Vietnam’s Bamboo Airways is also about to launch two new routes to Australia for the first time.

From today, Qantas is also bringing back several pre-COVID international routes, resuming its suspended Sydney-Honolulu route and making some major changes to its Sydney-Los Angeles and London-Sydney services.

Here’s a summary of the changes to Australia’s international air connectivity from 27 March 2022.

Changes to Qantas international routes to/from Australia

Qantas is resuming a handful of international routes this week, most of which have not been served during the pandemic. These include:

• Brisbane-Singapore
• Sydney-Manila
• Brisbane-Los Angeles (from 1 April)
• Perth-Singapore

This week, Qantas will also launch a new route from Darwin to Dili in Timor-Leste.

Qantas has reinstated its Sydney-Honolulu flights this week after suspending the route in late January due to lack of demand.

From today, Qantas is also reverting its London-Sydney and Sydney-Los Angeles flights to their original pre-COVID schedules.

The London-Sydney service, QF2, will now once again depart London Heathrow Airport in the evening instead of the morning. (This flight will continue operating via Darwin until 18 June 2022, after which time it will also revert to its original routing via Singapore.)

QF11 from Sydney to Los Angeles reverts from a late evening to a morning departure from today. Qantas is also now once again offering First Class on this route on days where the flight is operated by an Airbus A380.

Finally, Qantas is today ending its Sydney-Delhi route that launched in December 2021. This flight is not scheduled to return next summer, but Qantas is maintaining its Melbourne-Delhi flight as a year-round service.

British Airways returns to Sydney

After a two-year absence, British Airways is today restarting flights from Sydney to London via Singapore. These flights are now being operated by four-class Boeing 787-9s instead of Boeing 777-300ERs.

With Australia’s border reopened, Singapore removing COVID testing requirements for transit passengers last month, and ending the VTL scheme on 1 April 2022, the timing seems ideal for British Airways to return to this route.

If you just want to fly from Sydney to Singapore with British Airways, it is possible also to buy a ticket just for this part of the flight.

LATAM Airways restoring Australia’s link to South America

In welcome news for Australians trying to get to South America, and vice versa, LATAM Airlines is returning to Sydney this week. The Chilean airline will resume 3x weekly flights from Sydney to Santiago via Auckland, using Boeing 787s.

Qantas has not yet resumed flights to South America and Air New Zealand has permanently axed its service to Argentina, so Australia has been without a direct air service to South America for the past two years. This has made life particularly complicated for Australians travelling to South America, who have needed to fly via North America, the Middle East or even Europe.

Bamboo Airways launches Sydney-Ho Chi Minh City route

Vietnamese carrier Bamboo Airways is launching twice-weekly flights from Sydney to Ho Chi Minh City this week.

Bamboo Airways already began operating twice-weekly Melbourne-Ho Chi Minh City flights a few weeks ago. These will be complimented by a Melbourne-Hanoi route which will launch in a few weeks. The flights are operated by Boeing 787s with Economy & Business Class seating.

Bamboo Airways also flies to Frankfurt and London, as well as many destinations across Vietnam and Asia.

Thai Airways returns to Melbourne

Thai Airways has resumed 3x weekly Melbourne-Bangkok flights using Airbus A350s.

Singapore Airlines resumes Darwin & Cairns routes

Singapore Airlines will add flights from Darwin and Cairns to Singapore this week, taking over the pre-COVID Australian routes operated by SilkAir before it was merged into Singapore Airlines last year.

Read more: Singapore Airlines Returns to Darwin & Cairns

Jetstar Asia returns to Perth

Jetstar already resumed long-haul flights to Denpasar, Honolulu and Phuket in recent weeks. From this week, Jetstar Asia will also resume flights from Perth to Singapore. These will initially operate twice-weekly.

Jetstar Asia is already currently flying from Darwin to Singapore, and Jetstar is already operating Melbourne-Singapore flights.

You can leave a comment or discuss this topic on the Australian Frequent Flyer forum.

Matt Graham

The editor of Australian Frequent Flyer, Matt's passion for travel has taken him to over 90 countries… with the help of frequent flyer points, of course!
Matt's favourite destinations (so far) are Germany, Brazil & Kazakhstan. His interests include aviation, economics & foreign languages, and he has a soft spot for good food and red wine.

You can connect with Matt by posting on the Australian Frequent Flyer community forum and tagging @AFF Editor.