With Australia starting to reopen its borders for international travel, and a Vaccinated Travel Lane (VTL) or similar ‘bubble’ arrangement between the country and Singapore due to be announced imminently, the Qantas Group is making a return to Changi earlier than planned.
Passenger flights are back on three routes to and from Singapore, including options with the group’s full-service and low-cost carriers, following a long 600-day absence due to the effects of the pandemic.
Melbourne
Melbourne is first out of the starting blocks for Qantas from Singapore, following an announcement by Victoria’s Government that fully vaccinated Australian citizens and permanent residents will be able to arrive quarantine-free in the city from next month.
[Melbourne – Singapore] flights will be brought forward to 22 November 2021, three weeks ahead of schedule, operating three days per week with A330 aircraft and ramping up to daily from 18 December.
Qantas
On 22nd November QF35 from Melbourne will therefore be the first Qantas passenger flight to arrive at Changi Airport since the pandemic took hold in March 2020.
The Airbus A330 will depart back to Melbourne the following evening on 23rd November as QF36, representing a 608-day gap in operation for the carrier since the last passenger flight, QF52 to Brisbane, departed Changi on 25th March 2020.
Singapore Melbourne
23rd November to
17th December
| Days | |||||||||
| M | T | W | T | F | S | S | |||
 |
QF36 A330 |
||||||||
| SIN 20:30 |
MEL 07:00* |
||||||||
* Next day
Note: A one-time QF36 service also operates on Tuesday 23rd November
From 19th December
| Days | |||||||||
| M | T | W | T | F | S | S | |||
|
QF36 A330 |
||||||||
| SIN 19:40 |
MEL 06:10* |
||||||||
Note: No service on Tuesday 21st December
Melbourne Singapore
22nd November to
18th December
| Days | |||||||||
| M | T | W | T | F | S | S | |||
|
QF35 A330 |
||||||||
| MEL 11:50 |
SIN 16:45 |
||||||||
* Next day
From 18th December
| Days | |||||||||
| M | T | W | T | F | S | S | |||
|
QF35 A330 |
||||||||
| MEL 12:10 |
SIN 17:05 |
||||||||
Note: No service on Sunday 19th December
There will also be a low-cost option between Singapore and Melbourne, with Jetstar restarting four times weekly flights on the route using its Boeing 787.
Jetstar will also recommence flying four times a week between Melbourne and Singapore using 787 aircraft, a route it hasn’t flown since 2019.
Qantas
These services will restart a little later – from 16th December 2021, the same week Qantas will ramp up to daily Melbourne flights.
Singapore Melbourne
From 16th December
| Days | |||||||||
| M | T | W | T | F | S | S | |||
 |
JQ8 787-8 |
||||||||
| SIN 21:00 |
MEL 07:20* |
||||||||
* Next day
Note: A one-time JQ8 service operates on Thursday 16th December, instead of Friday 17th December
Melbourne Singapore
From 16th December
| Days | |||||||||
| M | T | W | T | F | S | S | |||
|
JQ7 787-8 |
||||||||
| MEL 13:00 |
SIN 17:50 |
||||||||
* Next day
Note: A one-time JQ7 service operates on Thursday 16th December, instead of Friday 17th December
Sydney
The Singapore – Sydney route is naturally up there in the initial Qantas flights ramp-up, and like Melbourne it will also use Airbus A330s initially.
Qantas [Sydney – Singapore] flights will resume on 23 November 2021, four weeks earlier than scheduled, operating three days per week with A330 aircraft. Services will ramp up to daily from 18 December 2021.
Qantas
Schedules show that daily operation has already been brought forward on this route by two weeks since the Qantas announcement, now taking effect from 5th December 2021.
Singapore Sydney
24th November to
5th December
| Days | |||||||||
| M | T | W | T | F | S | S | |||
|
QF82 A330 |
||||||||
| SIN 20:30 |
SYD 07:30* |
||||||||
* Next day
Note: A one-time QF82 service also operates on Wednesday 24th November
From 6th December
| Days | |||||||||
| M | T | W | T | F | S | S | |||
|
QF82 A330 |
||||||||
| SIN 20:30 |
SYD 07:30* |
||||||||
Sydney Singapore
23rd November to
5th December
| Days | |||||||||
| M | T | W | T | F | S | S | |||
|
QF81 A330 |
||||||||
| SYD 11:20 |
SIN 16:45 |
||||||||
* Next day
Note: A one-time QF81 service also operates on Tuesday 23rd November
From 6th December
| Days | |||||||||
| M | T | W | T | F | S | S | |||
|
QF81 A330 |
||||||||
| SYD 11:20 |
SIN 16:45 |
||||||||
Darwin
While the Northern Territory Government has not yet announced a date for allowing international travellers to arrive quarantine-free, Jetstar will also restart its Singapore – Darwin route three times per week from 20th December.
Singapore Darwin
From 20th December
| Days | |||||||||
| M | T | W | T | F | S | S | |||
|
3K161 A320 |
||||||||
| SIN 22:40 |
DRW 04:45* |
||||||||
* Next day
Darwin Singapore
From 21st December
| Days | |||||||||
| M | T | W | T | F | S | S | |||
|
3K162 A320 |
||||||||
| DRW 05:30 |
SIN 08:30 |
||||||||
Singapore – Darwin flights will be operated by the group’s Singapore subsidiary Jetstar Asia. Services are slated to increase to four times weekly from mid-January 2022.
Other routes
Despite not being part of the recent announcement, Qantas is also loading regular schedules from Singapore to two other cities in the coming months:
- Brisbane: From 18th December 2021
- Perth: From 27th March 2022
These are probably subject to change, based on state border restrictions, with Queensland and Western Australia lagging a month or two behind the likes of New South Wales and Victoria in terms of the 80%+ vaccination rate target.
One regular pre-COVID route Qantas isn’t scheduling through its Changi hub for the time being is the daily QF1/2 Sydney – Singapore – London service.
This flight will operate via Darwin using Boeing 787s when it restarts on 1st November, while Melbourne – London will also take a similar routing from 6th November.
The stopover in Singapore is currently scheduled for April 2022 at the earliest.
What are the restrictions?
A two-way quarantine-free VTL or ‘travel bubble’ arrangement is on the cards between Singapore and Australia, with Qantas certain to be part of the scheme, but until that’s announced these flights will only be for Australian citizens and permanent residents.
Both Qantas and the Australian Government have imposed some tight restrictions on those travelling, most or all of which we are also likely to see as part of the general travel reopening with Singapore in due course.
- All passengers aged 12 and older on Qantas and Jetstar international flights must be fully vaccinated with a TGA-approved vaccine, unless they have a medical exemption.
- Passengers will be required to possess a negative COVID-19 test from an approved PCR testing site within 72 hours of departure.
- For those travelling to Melbourne, the Victorian Government requires all passengers travelling to take a COVID-19 test within 24 hours of arriving.
- For those travelling to Sydney or Darwin, information on additional testing requirements for arriving passengers is still awaited.
Cabin products
With Qantas initially planning only Airbus A330s on flights from Singapore, it’s the airline’s first version of the popular Thompson Vantage XL seat to look forward to in Business Class.
These forward-facing seats are in a staggered 1-2-1 arrangement, with direct aisle access for all. Each seat reclines into a flat bed, with the footwell taking advantage of the space beneath the table of the seat in front, except at bulkhead rows where there is a wider recess.
In future we’ll hopefully see the airline’s Boeing 787s and Airbus A380s back in Singapore, which have a slightly enhanced version of this seat including a more refined colour scheme and a retractable privacy divider between the middle seats, for a more sociable experience when travelling as a couple.
There are also 50% more Business Class seats fitted to the Qantas Boeing 787 aircraft than to the Airbus A330s, which might mean better award seat availability if some of these routes ‘upgauge’ in due course.
In terms of dining and in-flight service, Qantas is promising a “very similar” experience to pre-COVID.
Premium food and drinks service, designed by Neil Perry will look and feel very similar to pre-COVID, with some minor modifications to service.
Qantas
Redemption rates
Here are the award rates for Qantas flights between Singapore and the two Australian cities on which services will originally be reinstated.
 Sydney / Melbourne (to/from SIN) |
|||
| Economy | Business | ||
 |
25,200 | 68,400 | |
 |
20,000 | 62,000 | |
 |
27,000 | 61,000 | |
 |
50,000 | 100,000 | |
These compare to the following KrisFlyer saver award rates on Singapore Airlines:
- 28,500 miles (Economy)
- 62,000 miles (Business)
Don’t forget that Qantas also passes on a fuel surcharge on award tickets, so you’re also looking at around S$125 in taxes and fees on a Singapore – Sydney redemption (SIA is around S$108).
Airbus A380s from 2022
In August Qantas announced that it would be returning five of its eventual post-COVID fleet of 10 Airbus A380s to service from July 2022 on Los Angeles and London flights.
This has been brought forward by three months and the superjumbo should be back on the Sydney – Los Angeles route from April 2022.
From November 2022 the Qantas A380s will make their way back to the Singapore route under the latest plans, flying to and from London via Changi, as they did before COVID-19.
This would represent the first Qantas A380 flights from Singapore since 23rd March 2020, an immense gap of nearly 1,000 days.
“The A380s work well on these long-haul routes when there’s sufficient demand, and the high vaccination rates in both markets would underpin this.”
Qantas
Once the Qantas A380s are back on the Singapore routes, we’ve got a First Class option and the latest cabin refits to look forward to, which feature on all the aircraft being returned to service.
It was recently revealed that Singapore Airlines will be flying its Airbus A380s on 30 return trips to Kuala Lumpur and back in November and December 2021 to get its crew back up to speed on the aircraft as it is introduced on both London and Sydney services.
Qantas Singapore lounges
As most of our readers know, Qantas has two lounges at Singapore Changi Airport. There’s the giant 570-capacity 2,200 sq m Business Class Lounge and the more intimate First Class Lounge, accommodating 240 guests.
Qantas has hinted about a lounge reopening, but had not announced full details at the time of writing.
Eligible Qantas customers and frequent flyers will have access to lounges in Australia and overseas, with more details to be provided shortly.
Qantas
The airline could direct it’s lounge-eligible customers in Singapore to a third-party lounge initially, but we think it’s more likely that one of its own dedicated facilities will open its doors.
We’ve got comprehensive reviews of both lounges, when we passed through as passengers shortly before they closed due to COVID-19.
So far in Australia Qantas has started by opening its smaller First Class international lounges before its Business Class ones as demand picks up and routes start to open post-COVID-19, like the carrier did in Sydney and Melbourne when the Australia – New Zealand travel bubble launched.
That could mean we see the smaller (and much superior) First Class lounge in Singapore open its doors before the mammoth 570-seat Business Class one, when the airline restarts its services here next month.
Indeed Stephanie Tully, Qantas Chief Customer Officer, told Executive Traveller that “it will depend on what the demand looks like” when making the ‘which lounge first’ reopening decision.
The space also lends itself easily towards segregation of Qantas Platinum One or Platinum status status holders, plus oneworld Emerald members, in their own dedicated area with enhanced F&B options, if the airline so desired.
Summary
With Australia’s borders starting to reopen, Qantas has brought forward its international restart and that includes the Singapore route, with the group connecting Changi to four Australian cities in November and December.
A quarantine-free ‘travel bubble’ or VTL arrangement between Singapore and Australia is also in the works, with announcement expected imminently, and of course we expect Qantas flights to participate in the leisure travel options once this comes to fruition.
Hopefully with demand not only from Australian citizens but also Singapore-based leisure travellers, we’ll see one of the excellent Qantas lounge facilities reopening its doors, a great option for eligible customers whether flying with Qantas or a oneworld carrier.
(Cover Photo: Pascal Renet)
1,000 days since 23 March 2020?
Yep by November 2022 it will be!