(CNN) – Australian airline Qantas said it plans to resume international flights by the end of October 2021.
The company released its half-year financial results on Wednesday, adding confirmation that it has a plan to restore international flights by the fall. That applies to both Qantas itself and Jetstar, the cheaper airline that is also owned by the company. The airline also plans to ramp up trans-Tasman flights to New Zealand in July.
The fall date was chosen because the airline believes it will tie in with Australia’s nationwide vaccination efforts against Covid-19.
However, don’t expect those flights to look the same as before the corona virus. For example, only 22 of the 25 international routes (including Los Angeles, Johannesburg and London) will return on or before October 31. Meanwhile, Jetstar will revitalize all 13 routes, including flights to Bangkok, Seoul and Tokyo.
Fewer planes will fly on each route and there will be fewer passengers on each plane.
A Qantas representative says the airline is investigating several digital health cards, AKA ‘vaccine passports’ that will verify whether a passenger has been vaccinated. Some countries allow vaccinated travelers to bypass quarantine on arrival, which is a critical first step in slowly reopening the global tourism industry.
Not surprisingly, Qantas has taken a financial hit since the pandemic started last year.
Despite creative ideas, such as a seven-hour tour dubbed “the flight to nowhere”, Qantas has struggled as Australia kept its borders almost entirely to non-residents.
Qantas, Australia’s oldest airline, turned 100 in November 2020. It started as the Queensland and Northern Territory Aerial Services, which operated mail planes delivering parcels and materials to some of the outback’s most remote settlements. The first international flight route was to Singapore in 1935.
International travel is not expected to fully recover until 2024, according to the airline.