MELBOURNE, 8 April 2022: Qantas will operate four weekly return flights from Sydney to Bengaluru (formerly known as Bangalore) from 14 September, using its widebody Airbus A330 aircraft.
These will be the first non-stop flights between Australia and southern India by any airline and will cut almost three hours off the current fastest travel time from Sydney to Bengaluru, growing technology and financial services hub.
With a population of 13 million people, the Bengaluru community has strong connections to Australia for both business travel and people visiting friends and relatives. These trade connections are expected to strengthen following the recent announcement of the Australia-India free trade agreement.
Qantas will continue to operate up to five flights a week between Melbourne and Delhi, making it the only airline offering direct flights between Australia and both northern and southern India.
The proposed agreement with Indigo will mean Qantas passengers can transit seamlessly from Qantas flights in Bengaluru, Delhi, or Singapore onto IndiGo services to other major Indian cities as well as smaller ones such as Pune and Goa.
Under the planned agreement, Qantas Frequent Flyers will be able to earn and redeem points on connecting IndiGo flights (QF code only) and IndiGo will recognize Qantas Frequent Flyer benefits for tiered members (Silver, Gold, Platinum and Platinum One) including priority check-in, additional baggage allowance and priority baggage.
Qantas customers traveling on IndiGo will enjoy the same baggage allowance for the entire journey as well as complimentary food and drinks.
The partnership will extend to Jetstar customers who will be able to book connecting flights on IndiGo services through its Jetstar Connect platform on jetstar.com from late April.
Qantas Group CEO Alan Joyce said the new routes would help the State’s tourism sector recover from COVID.
“Sydney is one of the world’s truly global cities and these new direct flights to India and Korea will make it easier for millions of people to come here.
“It’s clear that Australia is back on the map for international travelers. Demand for our international flights has rebounded since borders reopened, and that’s giving us the confidence to launch these new routes together with the marketing support from Destination New South Wales.
“The signing of the Australia-India free trade agreement is a driver of travel demand as trade and investment links expand between Australia and India’s population of more than one billion people.
“Our new direct flights to Bengaluru, combined with the planned codeshare with IndiGo, have the potential to reshape the way many people travel between Australia and India.
