Pet Airline Qantas Drops Popular Pet Flights from San Francisco to Australia
News is breaking today that Qantas, one of the pet-friendly airlines we regularly use to send pets to Australia, is dropping their San Francisco to Sydney route beginning as early as May. From the Sydney Morning Herald:Qantas said today it would begin direct flights to Dallas/Fort Worth (DFW) on May 16, after ending flights to San Francisco on May 14.
It would operate four times a week direct from Sydney to Dallas/Fort Worth starting May 16, using a three-class Boeing 747.
It would operate four times a week direct from Sydney to Dallas/Fort Worth starting May 16, using a three-class Boeing 747.
How will these flight changes affect pet travel to Australia? For starters, pets in the San Francisco area will need to be sent out of Los Angeles on direct flights to Australia instead.
It's also clear that the new route out of Dallas will be much longer. The Australian Business Traveler explains:
Qantas will offer business class, premium economy and economy class cabins on the longest 747 flight in the world: it tops out at 8578 miles or 15,886 km, some 10% longer than Sydney to Los Angeles.
The direct Sydney-Dallas service can only run eastbound, however -- the return flight will go from DFW to Brisbane and refuel before continuing on to Sydney, due to the prevailing headwind direction over the Pacific.
The Dallas flights will be numbered QF7/QF8:
The direct Sydney-Dallas service can only run eastbound, however -- the return flight will go from DFW to Brisbane and refuel before continuing on to Sydney, due to the prevailing headwind direction over the Pacific.
The Dallas flights will be numbered QF7/QF8:
- QF7 will depart Sydney at 1325 on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, crossing the International Date Line and arriving in Dallas at 1350 the same day.
- QF8 will fly Dallas-Brisbane-Sydney, departing DFW at 2200 on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, to arrive in Brisbane at 0500 two days later, before departing at 0630 to touch down in Sydney at 0805.