Qantas launches new direct, year-round Sydney-Osaka service

13 December, 2017

Qantas launched it's fourth route between Australia and Japan today with a year-round Sydney-Osaka service. The route marks the airline's 70 years of flying between the two countries.

As the first service to Osaka for Qantas itself (Osaka is serviced by Jetstar from Cairns), the route adds to the airline's Sydney-Tokyo (Haneda), Brisbane-Tokyo (Narita) and Melbourne-Tokyo (Narita) services.

Qantas International CEO Alison Webster said it was an exciting time to be launching the new service with travel between the two countries booming, "we initially announced the route as a seasonal service but quickly extended it to year-round to meet customer demand".

The three times weekly service will operate on an Airbus A330 aircraft, adding 92,000 seats annually.

Sydney Kingsford Smith Airport to Osaka Kansai International Airport seats per week

Source: CAPA - Centre for Aviation and OAG

Sydney Airport welcomed the launch with Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer Kerrie Mather saying the new route would provide additional capacity to meet growing demand from travellers.

"We're thrilled that Qantas has recognised the strength of this growing market with its new service. This new Qantas service is a fantastic boost for tourism, as it's expected to bring in an additional 24,000 Japanese visitors and AUD50 million in additional visitor expenditure per year for NSW," continued Ms Mather.

Japan is Sydney Airport's sixth largest origin and destination market, growing 15% in the past year. "Osaka is our largest unserved market and Sydneysiders will be excited to now have a direct route to Osaka in time for the busy holiday period.

Tourism Australia Managing Director John O'Sullivan said Tourism Australia was already working closely with Qantas to promote the new Osaka service in Japan, including supporting a party of Japanese media travelling to Australia on the inaugural flight.

"The travel trade in market are really excited about the new service. As we've seen in the past few years, improved air access has really helped turn around the Japan market. Being able to fly direct to Australia from Osaka is hugely significant. When combined with the high-speed rail network that serves the airport, this new service effectively opens up a huge catchment area of potential holidaymakers for Australia across southern and western Japan," Mr O'Sullivan said.