(CNN) – Australian airline Qantas has said it plans to resume international flights by the end of October 2021.
The company announced its financial half-year results on Wednesday, including the confirmation that it has a plan to recover international flights by the fall. This applies to both Qantas itself and Jetstar, the cheaper service provider also owned by the company. The airline also plans to increase trans-Tasman flights to New Zealand by July.
The fall date was chosen because the airline believes it will join Australia’s nationwide vaccination efforts for Covid-19.
However, do not expect the flights to look the same as before coronavirus. For example, only 22 of its 25 international routes (including Los Angeles, Johannesburg and London) will return before 31 October. Meanwhile, Jetstar will revive all 13 of its routes, which include flights to Bangkok, Seoul and Tokyo.
Fewer planes will fly on each route, and fewer passengers will be in each plane.
A Qantas representative says the airline is investigating several digital health passes, AKA “vaccine passports” that will verify whether a passenger has been vaccinated. Some countries allow vaccinated travelers to circumvent quarantines upon arrival, which is a critical first step in slowly reopening the global tourism industry.
Not surprisingly, Qantas has suffered a financial blow since the pandemic began last year.
Despite creative ideas such as a seven-hour sightseeing tour called ‘the flight to nowhere’, Qantas has struggled as Australia has almost completely closed its borders to non-residents.
Qantas, Australia’s oldest airline, became 100 in November 2020. It started as the Queensland and Northern Territory airlines, which operate mail planes that deliver packages and materials to some of the most remote settlements abroad. His first international flight was to Singapore in 1935.
According to the airline, international travel is not expected to recover until 2024.