Qantas will launch non-stop seasonal flights from Sydney to Sapporo, just in time for the Christmas holidays and Japanese ski season. The 3x weekly Qantas flights will run from 16 December 2019 until 28 March 2020.
The flights will operate to Sapporo’s New Chitose Airport, the largest airport on the Japanese island of Hokkaido. Hokkaido has become extremely popular with Australian travellers, particularly for its skiing during the northern winter. New Chitose Airport is a gateway to popular ski resorts such as Niseko, Rusutsu and Furano. Sapporo also hosts a popular annual snow and ice festival, which next year will run from 31 January until 11 February.
The new Qantas route will be the only direct flight between Australia and Sapporo.
Qantas’ Sydney-Sapporo flights will be operated by Airbus A330-200s and run on Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays. The flight time will be around 10 hours and the schedule is as follows:
- QF39 Sydney (SYD) 09:30 – Sapporo (CTS) 18:35
- QF40 Sapporo (CTS) 20:05 – Sydney (SYD) 09:05 (+1 day)
There is already some award availability on the new route, although there are very few Classic Flight Reward seats available during the Christmas school holidays. But there is some Economy availability on the 16 December inaugural Sydney-Sapporo flight, and some Business class availability on the route throughout February and March next year.
An Economy reward seat from Sydney to Sapporo will set you back 35,000 Qantas points and $182.47, of which $90 are Qantas carrier charges. A Business reward seat costs 72,000 Qantas points plus $272.47, including a $180 carrier charge.
The overall number of flights between Australia and Japan has been steadily increasing in recent years as more Australians are visiting Japan. The number of Japanese tourists coming to Australia is also on the rise. Later this year, ANA will also launch new direct flights from Perth to Tokyo.
Qantas also operates seasonal flights from Sydney to Vancouver during the Christmas holiday period, catering to Australians heading to Canada during the northern hemisphere ski season. Qantas previously operated Sydney-Vancouver flights over the July holidays as well, but this year the airline will not do so. Qantas has, however, announced new seasonal flights from Melbourne to Queenstown during the southern hemisphere winter.
Join the discussion on the Australian Frequent Flyer forum: QF to launch seasonal flights to Sapporo
