Sydney: Australia’s national carrier Qantas on Wednesday started the operation of its direct flight service between Sydney and India’s southern city of Bengaluru.
The new service, in partnership with the Aviation Attraction Fund of the state of New South Wales (NSW), is expected to deliver more than 44,000 inbound seats between now and June 2023.
Qantas will fly an A330 aircraft from Sydney to Bengaluru’s Kempegowda International Airport four times per week every Wednesday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday. The non-stop new route will cut nearly three hours off the current fastest travel time between the two cities.
The new route is another one opened by Qantas between major cities of the two countries following last year’s establishment of a direct Sydney-Delhi flight.
Having direct flights to the populous cities in north and south India are expected to provide greater connectivity and boost local tourism and economy.
“As a direct flight to India, there is potential to support more than 100 jobs and generate more than 19 million Australian dollars (about 13 million US dollars) in overnight spending for the NSW visitor economy,” said the state’s Treasurer Matt Kean.
The state also expected the new route to further promote NSW’s trade relationship with India, a major trading partner and source of skilled migrants for Australia.
