Australia's Qantas to suspend flights to China's Shanghai on low demand

By Reuters May 13, 2024 | 07:20 pm PT

Workers are seen near Qantas Airways, Australia's national carrier, Boeing 737-800 aircraft on the tarmac at Adelaide Airport, Australia, Aug. 22, 2018. Photo by Reuters

Qantas Airways said on Tuesday it will suspend its Sydney flights to Shanghai from July 28, citing low demand, around nine months after the Australian flag carrier resumed the service on hopes of a travel rebound following the pandemic.

Aircraft on the Shanghai route will be redirected to fly other destinations across Asia experiencing higher demand or where there are new tourism opportunities, the company said.

"Since Covid, the demand for travel between Australia and China has not recovered as strongly as expected. In some months, our flights to and from Shanghai have been operating around half-full," Qantas International CEO Sam Wallace said in a statement.

Qantas will continue to monitor the Australia-China market closely and look to return to Shanghai when demand has recovered, the carrier added.

The carrier announced a new route from Brisbane to Manila, which will begin late-October, additional flights to Singapore from October onwards.

It will also increase its flight frequency from Sydney to Bengaluru in India to daily from five per week for about four months starting mid-December.