FORT WORTH, Texas, June 9, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- American
Airlines and Qantas Airways plan to significantly expand their
joint business by adding new service between the U.S. and
Australia. New routes between
Los Angeles International Airport
(LAX) and Sydney Airport (SYD), operated by American Airlines, and
between San Francisco
International Airport (SFO) and SYD, operated by Qantas, will
provide customers with expanded options when traveling between the
two regions.
Through this enhanced alliance, American will begin operating a
daily, nonstop flight between LAX and SYD on Dec. 17, 2015, further strengthening its global
network and its world-class LAX hub. Beginning Dec. 20, 2015 Qantas will begin operating service
between SYD and SFO, expanding the airlines' joint network to
another key market for business and leisure customers. Services
will initially operate on peak days and ramp up to six times per
week in January 2016. Pending
regulatory approvals, this expansion represents the natural
evolution of the collaboration between American and Qantas, with
revenue-sharing and other agreements that provide the airlines with
a platform for closer commercial ties and an even more seamless
customer experience on routes between North America and Australia/New
Zealand. The closer and more integrated relationship also
provides opportunities for future growth into trans-Pacific markets
not currently served by either airline, such as New
Zealand.
"Qantas has been a fantastic partner
through oneworld and our joint business relationship,
and strengthening those ties has provided us with a solid
foundation to introduce American-operated flights into the
Australian region," said Doug
Parker, chairman and CEO of American Airlines. "Our
customers have asked us to expand to important business
destinations across the Pacific, and flying our flagship aircraft,
the Boeing 777-300ER, to Sydney
will provide another world-class travel experience from our key
gateway at LAX."
"For over 20 years, we've worked in partnership with American to
give our customers the best network on both sides of the Pacific,"
said Alan Joyce, CEO of Qantas
Group. "We are excited to take the alliance to a new level and
expand our services to new destinations including San Francisco – Australia's biggest unserved direct corporate
destination. We are seeing strong growth in numbers of visitors to
Australia and look forward to
carrying more travellers from the U.S. across our extensive
domestic and international network in the South Pacific."
Through their joint business, American and Qantas provide
increased connectivity to destinations beyond their key gateways.
Customers traveling from Australia
can access more than 150 destinations throughout North America on American's extensive network
from Dallas/Fort Worth,
Los Angeles and San Francisco. This includes transcontinental
service to New York's John F.
Kennedy Airport (JFK) from LAX and SFO on the only true three-class
aircraft flying those routes, the Airbus A321T. From LAX, customers
can connect on to more than 50 destinations. American has added
service to seven new destinations from its LAX hub over the past
year, including Atlanta,
Belize, Edmonton, Guadalajara, San
Antonio, Tampa and
Vancouver.
Customers traveling from North
America have access to nearly 60 additional destinations
throughout Australia and
New Zealand when connecting from
Qantas trans-Pacific routes from Sydney.
American's new service between Los
Angeles and Sydney will be
operated with the state-of-the-art, three-class Boeing 777-300ER.
The aircraft features all-aisle access, fully lie-flat seats and a
walk-up bar in the premium cabins; Main Cabin Extra seating
provides more legroom; and all seats feature personal, in-seat
entertainment screens with up to 250 movies, over 180 TV programs
and more than 350 audio selections, international Wi-Fi capability
and universal AC power outlets and USB ports.
Qantas will operate its service between Sydney and San
Francisco with a reconfigured Boeing 747-400 that has the
same style interiors found on its flagship Airbus A380 aircraft. It
features the award-winning, fully-flat Skybed designed by
Marc Newson in Business Class,
custom-designed seats with ergonomic cushioning in Economy Class
and the latest inflight technology with large in-seat screens in
every cabin offering more than 1,500 entertainment options. Qantas'
SYD-LAX route will continue to operate with the A380.
About American Airlines Group
American Airlines Group (NASDAQ: AAL) is the holding company for
American Airlines and US Airways. Together with regional partners,
operating as American Eagle and US Airways Express, the airlines
operate an average of nearly 6,700 flights per day to nearly 350
destinations in more than 50 countries. American is a founding
member of the oneworld alliance, whose members and
members-elect serve nearly 1,000 destinations with 14,250 daily
flights to 150 countries. This year American topped Fortune
Magazine's list of best business turnarounds and its stock joined
the S&P 500 index. Connect with American on Twitter
@AmericanAir and at Facebook.com/AmericanAirlines.
About Qantas Airways
Qantas is the world's second-oldest airline. Founded in the
Queensland outback in 1920, it is
Australia's largest domestic and
international airline and is recognised as one of the world's
leading long-distance carriers, having pioneered services from
Australia to North America and Europe. The Qantas Group today offers services
across a network spanning more than 200 destinations in 53
countries, including Australia and
those served by codeshare partner airlines. Renowned for its
excellence in safety, customer service, operational efficiency and
technical innovation, the flying kangaroo is a symbol of
contemporary Australia. Customer
benefits include a global network, up to four travel classes, a
leading loyalty program in Qantas Frequent Flyer, award winning
inflight meals and entertainment, airport lounges and strong
relationships with partner airlines. Qantas was awarded Best
Airline Australia-Pacific in this year's Skytrax World Airline
Awards and was also ranked in the top ten best airlines
globally.
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SOURCE American Airlines