Qantas suspends direct flights to and from Delhi - June to Oct 2025

[dvt]

Just received an email from Qantas to say that might flight to Delhi in July is cancelled and that I will be reacomndated on a QF flight to Hong Kong and then a flight on Cathay to Delhi.

My original flight had an overnight in Delhi before flying onto London with BA. Having looked at potential flights it doesn't look like I'll make the BA flight unless I leave from Melbourne a day earlier. Qantas have advised that they will send through a new ticket shortly. I'm hoping that there are options to fly direct to London as this new routing doesn't appeal. I'm currently on an award ticket, so I'm hoping for the best!

Has anyone had anything similar on an award ticket? Are Qantas normally accomodating?

thanks

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Just received an email from Qantas to say that might flight to Delhi in July is cancelled and that I will be reacomndated on a QF flight to Hong Kong and then a flight on Cathay to Delhi.

My original flight had an overnight in Delhi before flying onto London with BA. Having looked at potential flights it doesn't look like I'll make the BA flight unless I leave from Melbourne a day earlier. Qantas have advised that they will send through a new ticket shortly. I'm hoping that there are options to fly direct to London as this new routing doesn't appeal. I'm currently on an award ticket, so I'm hoping for the best!

Has anyone had anything similar on an award ticket? Are Qantas normally accomodating?

thanks

If they’re sending through a new ticket it won’t have options. It will be a new ticket.

Was your connecting flight to London all on the one ticket? If so, easy switch to ask QF to accommodate you on one of their services all the way from Australia to London. Take your pick if you want to fly via PER or SIN.

If it was separate tickets you’ll need to fly the day earlier.

 

[dvt]

If they’re sending through a new ticket it won’t have options. It will be a new ticket.

Was your connecting flight to London all on the one ticket? If so, easy switch to ask QF to accommodate you on one of their services all the way from Australia to London. Take your pick if you want to fly via PER or SIN.

If it was separate tickets you’ll need to fly the day earlier.

It was all on one ticket. I did call Qantas but they couldn't see the cancellation. Will wait for them to make the changes and then call back for a direct Qantas flight.

 

[kewpid]

Got the same notification for our reward flights to Delhi and the re-routing via HKG.

Annoying as it just adds another hop to our trek to Europe. Hoping for some flexibility with the new flights as we’d rather spend some time in HKG than Delhi.

 

[Brettmcg]

This suspension is nothing more than a product of the totally disastrous state of the QF A333/2 fleet at the moment. Unavailability of significant parts of their long-haul fleet would have to be the number one issue plaguing QF currently.

 

[Ade]

I did call Qantas but they couldn't see the cancellation.

IME, seems like it takes a while for QF call centre systems to see the cancellations. I had a similar thing happen a year ago. Received a text from QF that one of my international legs were cancelled. I called the WP line immediately and they could not see the cancellation. They kept saying "it is scheduled to fly" and I'm like "can't be, I got a text from QF that my flight is cancelled". They then asked me to leave it with them. They will keep an eye and rebook me. Luckily for me, I received a call from the same agent WP line and she said that she received the cancellation now and she can rebook me while I was on the phone.

 

[eastwest101]

This suspension is nothing more than a product of the totally disastrous state of the QF A333/2 fleet at the moment. Unavailability of significant parts of their long-haul fleet would have to be the number one issue plaguing QF currently.

Would have made life a lot easier for themselves without converting a A330 to freight as well..... EBF has been sitting on the ground quite a lot with poor utilization, when it could have been in the air making money on PER-East Coast and International Asia runs - for which the A330 is ideally suited, assuming they are not short on A330 crew which they also probably are.

 

[dvt]

Just got off the phone with Qantas, they aren't willing to put me on a direct flight to London. My option is to go via Hong Kong to Delhi and then connect with my BA flight to London. The operator was quite apologetic but said that her support team wont go against the advice they'd been given. The only other option is to cancel for a full refund.

Anyway, I asked for the ticket to remain as is. I'll wait for them to send me a new ticket and then I'll try again.

 

[Daver6]

Would flying up to SYD to connect to the QF flight to BLR and then a domestic flight from from BLR to DEL?

Other options is a BA flight from BLR to DEL? Or perhaps BA or CX from HKG direct to LHR.

 

[Brettmcg]

Would flying up to SYD to connect to the QF flight to BLR and then a domestic flight from from BLR to DEL?

Other options is a BA flight from BLR to DEL? Or perhaps BA or CX from HKG direct to LHR.

A good TA would likely be able to action a change like that.

Anyone relying on QF to help with the change over the phone will be forced into using the options covered by this policy: https://www.qantas.com/agencyconnec...-the-suspension-of-qantas-delhi-services.html

Interesting that pax booked in Business have to go via HKG and use CX, whereas Economy can go on QF to SIN and then onwards with 6E. Probably not enough extra/available AU-SIN capacity in J on QF to accommodate all of the affected pax.

 

[dvt]

Would flying up to SYD to connect to the QF flight to BLR and then a domestic flight from from BLR to DEL?

Other options is a BA flight from BLR to DEL? Or perhaps BA or CX from HKG direct to LHR.

There are lots of options but the support team have advised that they can only provide the option of Melbourne to Hong Kong (QF) and then onwards to Delhi (CX).

 

[Ade]

Interesting that pax booked in Business have to go via HKG and use CX, whereas Economy can go on QF to SIN and then onwards with 6E. Probably not enough extra/available AU-SIN capacity in J on QF to accommodate all of the affected pax.

It could also be that QF could see this as an opportunity to feed more Y pax into the 6E SIN-DEL route? Noting that there is no J seats on any 6E fleet as of now, sending QF Y pax to 6E will see like QF is making the best use of the codeshare agreement and 6E will think nice thins about QF. Just my thoughts.

 

[Ade]

A good TA would likely be able to action a change like that.

I'm keen to know how a good TA could do this. I have a QF MEL-DEL-MAA, which is now MEL-SIN-DEL-MAA. I'm very keen to do MEL-SYD-BLR-MAA. I could spend the night in BLR catch up with some mates before heading to MAA. My TA tried to do this and says that they are unable to get some authorisation/authority/permission from QF to change to MEL-SYD-BLR-MAA.

 

[Brettmcg]

It could also be that QF could see this as an opportunity to feed more Y pax into the 6E SIN-DEL route? Noting that there is no J seats on any 6E fleet as of now, sending QF Y pax to 6E will see like QF is making the best use of the codeshare agreement and 6E will think nice thins about QF. Just my thoughts.

Some QF fares allow (or at least used to) the following combinations onwards from SIN

PUBLISHED RTG MEL-DEL/QF7802/TAR-TGRG EF-22FEB23 DIS-INDEF

/WITHIN THE EASTERN HEMISPHERE/
MAP CONSTRUCTED LEFT TO RIGHT AND RIGHT TO LEFT
1. MEL-SYD-BKK-AI-DEL
2. MEL-SIN-AI-DEL
3. MEL-SYD-BKK-DEL
4. MEL-SIN-MH-KUL-MH-DEL
5. MEL-SIN-DEL
6. MEL-SIN-SQ-DEL
7. MEL-SYD-BKK-TG-DEL
8. MEL-SYD-BKK-UL/QF-CMB-UL-DEL
9. MEL-SIN-UL/QF-CMB-UL-DEL

 

[SeatBackForward]

This suspension is nothing more than a product of the totally disastrous state of the QF A333/2 fleet at the moment. Unavailability of significant parts of their long-haul fleet would have to be the number one issue plaguing QF currently.

I suspect there's some wholesale changes to network timetables happening to make their schedules less vulnerable.

 

[markis10]

Commercial policy

The following commercial policy is available to customers holding a valid 081 ticket issued on/before 20 February 2025 for scheduled departures between 3 June - 24 October 2025 to/from Melbourne and Delhi on Qantas flights QF69/70.

Options for customers holding a Qantas (081) issued ticket:​

Customer options:

Option	Permitted action	Ticket reissue condition
1. Rebook	Rebook +/-7 days from original departure date to a Qantas Airways operated flight between Australia and Singapore connecting with a Qantas flight operated by IndiGo between Singapore and end destination in India. If the Singapore service is not suitable, rebook +/- 7 days from the original departure date to a Qantas Airways operated flight between Australia and Bengaluru and connect with a Qantas flight operated by IndiGo between Bengaluru and the end destinations in India. For customers booked in the Business cabin, rebook +/-7 days from the original departure date to a Qantas Airways operated flight between Australia and Hong Kong connecting with a Cathay Pacific operated flight between Hong Kong and Delhi. For Qantas and IndiGo operated flights, rebook into same booking class as original booking. If the same booking class is not available, the lowest booking class within the same cabin may be booked. For Cathay Pacific operated flights between Hong Kong and India, rebook in the order of I, P, D class (i.e. if I class not available, rebook into P class, if I and P class both not available, rebook into D)	Reissue with authority 745325 in endorsement box Change fee does not apply Additional fare/taxes do not apply. All details of the original ticket including fare basis and fare calculation to be shown on the new ticket.
Qantas NDC Call Out Where the flight has been affected, the agent should reshop and select an alternative flight using waiver code 745323 and waiver type ‘Additional Fare/Tax/Change Fee’. The Qantas NDC commercial waiver workflow will automatically waive the additional fare, taxes and change fee. Please contact your Technology Partner if further assistance is required.
2. Credit	Retain the value of the ticket in credit. New travel dates must be within ticket validity.	Reissue with authority 745325 in endorsement box Change fee does not apply Additional fare/taxes do apply. If the new fare is of a higher value than the existing ticketed fare, the fare difference is payable by the customer. Applicable ticket surcharges, fees and taxes may apply.
Qantas NDC Call Out Where a ticket has been held in credit due to a commercial policy, you must create a new NDC booking then add the waiver code 745322 and waiver type 'Change Fee’. The commercial waiver workflow will automatically waive the change fee
3. Refund	If the above alternative options are not suitable, customers are entitled to a refund. Customers who have commenced their journey are entitled to a refund of the impacted sector/s.	Refund Applications can be submitted via GDS or BSPlink or ARC with reference to the Authority number 745325 to waive any refund fees Refund fee does not apply To request a refund, return the ticket to the original point of purchase
Qantas NDC Call Out To apply for a refund, you must cancel the Qantas NDC booking and retain the ticket. Refund applications must be submitted as a manual refund request via BSPlink or ARC with reference to the authority provided in the commercial policy to waive any applicable fees. Please contact your Technology Partner if further assistance is required.

Commercial Policy Conditions​

• Flights no longer required must be cancelled prior to scheduled departure.
• All Qantas flight changes need to be actioned (reissued or revalidated) prior to travel
• Qantas will not be responsible for paying any other costs or expenses such as hotel or other ground operator fees arising due to events beyond our control, unless required by applicable laws.
• All other rules and conditions of the ticket remain unchanged.
• Once a ticket has been reissued using this authority, subsequent changes are subject to fare rules and conditions (unless covered by this or another commercial policy).

For customers with unticketed bookings:​

For unticketed bookings, alternate flights/routings can be rebooked subject to availability and tickets issued in accordance with fare conditions.

For customers with a Qantas Points Plus Pay bookings:​

Qantas Points Plus Pay Bookings are entitled to the same options and conditions as listed above.

For customers on Frequent Flyer Classic Reward Tickets:​

Qantas Classic Flight Reward tickets cannot be retained in credit. They can be changed or refunded. This must be done via Contact Centres.

 

[Ade]

Some QF fares allow (or at least used to) the following combinations onwards from SIN

PUBLISHED RTG MEL-DEL/QF7802/TAR-TGRG EF-22FEB23 DIS-INDEF

/WITHIN THE EASTERN HEMISPHERE/
MAP CONSTRUCTED LEFT TO RIGHT AND RIGHT TO LEFT
1. MEL-SYD-BKK-AI-DEL
2. MEL-SIN-AI-DEL
3. MEL-SYD-BKK-DEL
4. MEL-SIN-MH-KUL-MH-DEL
5. MEL-SIN-DEL
6. MEL-SIN-SQ-DEL
7. MEL-SYD-BKK-TG-DEL
8. MEL-SYD-BKK-UL/QF-CMB-UL-DEL
9. MEL-SIN-UL/QF-CMB-UL-DEL

So now in addition to AI, SQ, TG (in line numbers 2, 6 and 7 respectively), 6E is also a viable onwards from SIN? Is that the right way to understand this?

 

[dvt]

I tried them again and I've had some luck. The connecting flight from Hong Kong wont get me into Delhi in time for my flight to London. So they have agreed to fly me on QF metal. They suggested via Perth but I've managed to get on QF1 with a few hours in Sydney following my flight from Melbourne to use the First lounge.

 

[SeatBackForward]

So now in addition to AI, SQ, TG (in line numbers 2, 6 and 7 respectively), 6E is also a viable onwards from SIN? Is that the right way to understand this?

Wasn't IndiGo always a viable options to/from SIN?

 

[Ade]

Wasn't IndiGo always a viable options to/from SIN?

Yes, 6E was always a viable option, but not via the codeshare agreement with QF to operate the 6E leg as a QF number.

My understanding is, some 'N' years ago, QF had a codeshare agreement with 6E to operate domestic IND routes on a QF number as part of international itinerary. So SYD-BLR-MAA or MEL-DEL-MAA would be 2 QF numbers, rather than 1 QF and 1 6E number.

Fast forward a couple of years, 6E was then given the authority to fly international into SIN and QF then got another agreement (or extended the existing codeshare agreement) for 6E to operate as a QF codeshare from SIN to cities in IND. So there is a 6E SIN-DEL/BOM/CJB, from memory. However, there is still no SIN-MAA/HYD/CCU/CGK as a QF codeshare.

Happy to be corrected.

Edit: Side Note: late last year MH got into an agreement with 6E to operate some domestic IND routes as a MH codeshare. Notably, there is AMD-KUL-SYD, that operates as a MH number all the way, with AMD-KUL in a 6E aircraft.