Konnichiwa Japan! QF to launch direct BNE - Tokyo flights
Brisbane Airport (BNE) is finishing 2014 on a high with Qantas announcing it will launch four direct return flights a week between BNE and Tokyo (Narita) from 1 August 2015.
The new service will see BNE reconnect non-stop to Japan for the first time since 2010, providing some 1200 seats per week, or around 62,000 seats per year, to bring Japanese visitors to Queensland’s famous tourism experiences, as well as giving Queenslanders direct access to the Japan’s famous culture, business and ski-fields.
Julieanne Alroe, Brisbane Airport Corporation (BAC) CEO and Managing Director said it was exciting to have a direct premium service offering between Brisbane and Japan once more.
“We’ve waited a long time for this and the new Qantas services will perfectly match the unserved demand for business class travel to Japan from the many companies trading with Queensland’s second largest trading partner.
“This is a huge win for travellers, for business, for Brisbane, for Queensland and for the economy and we congratulate Qantas on committing valuable resources to what we believe will be a very popular route,” Ms Alroe said.
The new direct service will also go a long way to restoring the Japanese inbound tourism market to the 100,000-plus annual passengers it was in 2010.
“While visitor numbers from Japan have shown resilience over the time we haven’t had
direct services, and had even began regrowing in recent years, access to direct services offering a premium product will go a long way to boost leisure and business travel, as well as stimulating the ‘Visiting Family and Friends’ market.
“We look forward to working with Qantas to make a real success of these new BNE-Tokyo services so we can persuade them to consider daily services in the future,” Ms Alroe said.
The addition of Tokyo brings BNE’s international network to 28 destinations around the globe.
Qantas will operate an Airbus A330 aircraft on the route, featuring its latest on board business class product.