Qantas announces new Dallas Fort Worth - Brisbane route
Qantas have today announced a new service between Dallas Fort Worth International Airport and Brisbane Airport, starting in May 2011, which will assist Brisbane and Queensland in its recovery from the flood crisis in the long term.
Starting in May 2011 with four services a week, the Dallas Fort Worth - Brisbane service will use a Boeing 747-400 aircraft, adding more than 1,200 seats per week.
Ms Alroe said that BAC has kept the airport open and operating effectively over the past week amid the flooding crisis to ensure people get to their homes, and supply chain networks are maintained for recovery efforts. She said this new service will help the recovery of Queensland in the long term.
“This announcement of a new service is a testament of Qantas’ confidence in Brisbane and Queensland that it will recover, and when this new route starts in a few months, it will encourage visitors from across the world to again visit our city and state, in an effort to rebuild our tourism industry,” Ms Alroe said.
“Qantas should be congratulated on their commitment to Brisbane and Queensland.”
Ms Alroe also said the new service would avoid the need for a Los Angeles (LAX) stop-over.
“Up until now, Queenslanders have had to endure a number of transit points in other countries.
“The introduction of Brisbane-LAX services six years ago by Qantas really stimulated travel to and from the West Coast and onwards throughout the United States, which continues to grow as an important market for Queensland tourism,” Ms Alroe said.
“The new Dallas Fort Worth service will complement these existing services to Los Angeles, as not all demand for travel between the USA and Brisbane is met by LAX-BNE services.”
Qantas will partner with its fellow Oneworld alliance member American Airlines to provide connections to a number of destinations from Dallas, which is one of the world’s largest and busiest airports, with more than 56 million passengers, 17 airlines and an incredible 188 destinations.
Ms Alroe said: “This new Dallas Forth Worth route opens a vast network of exciting options across North, Central and South America and the Caribbean, with destinations as diverse as East Coast Canada, Peru, Ecuador, Brazil and Mexico. With the current strength of the Australian dollar showing no sign of abating, this is fantastic news for Australian travellers.
“And for our Texas cousins, Brisbane is the perfect gateway into Australia. Queenslanders and Texans share an obvious affinity with wide open spaces and a love of the land, our geography and history, and given the fact that a large a growing percentage of North American visitors actually spend most of their time in Queensland, the Dallas Fort Worth - Brisbane connection makes perfect sense from whichever end you look at it. Furthermore, with a record level of investment in the resources sector, including gas exploration and mining, the synergies go beyond tourism and into the important business market.”
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