dailynewsnblog
Everyone knows that Qantas is very much Australia’s long-haul operator. In the 12 months to April 2026, the 
oneworld member has 16% of the country’s long-haul activity. Upcoming markets include Las Vegas, which will see the airline in January.
It is never always good news. All airlines have route churn, and Qantas is no exception. In the past 20 years, Australia’s flag carrier has ceased flying to nine long-haul destinations from Australia. Of course, go back further, and the list of dropped airports would be higher. Obviously, the purpose of removing them is to contribute to creating a stronger carrier.
Qantas’ Jets Are No Longer Used To These Places
Qantas’ long-haul network from January 2006 to July 2026 has been explored using Cirium Diio data. This was then compared to what’s available from August 2026 until March 2027. This process showed that the following nine destinations are no longer served.
Only airports with regular flights are included. This rules out multiple places that saw Qantas on a one-off or otherwise time-limited basis, whether as a charter operation, for repatriation purposes during COVID-19 (of which there were a lot), or otherwise. Anywhere that was served since January 2006, then cut, but later reappeared is not included, unless it was scrapped again. This rules out the likes of Paris CDG.
Obviously, most of the entries involve 
Sydney Kingsford Smith Airport (SYD) and Melbourne Airport (MEL). While to a much smaller extent, Brisbane Airport (BNE), Cairns Airport (CNS) in tropical Far North Queensland, and Darwin International Airport (DRW) feature too.
All the destinations remain reachable with Qantas’ oneworld, codeshare, or other partners. For example, the carrier continues to have a joint venture agreement with 
Emirates, and they seemingly operate on a metal neutral basis. Following Qantas’ exit, the wholly owned subsidiary Jetstar briefly operated to 
Beijing Capital International Airport (PEK; 2011-2013) and Nagoya’s Chubu Centrair International Airport (2007-2008).
Jetstar continues to serve the same two routes as Qantas once did to Osaka’s Kansai International Airport (KIX; along with BNE-KIX) and the same two routes to Seoul’s Incheon International Airport (ICN). Simply switching to a platform with a better cost structure does not guarantee success, but it does increase the chance of working.
Last Served In (Only 2006-2026*) | Airport | Qantas’ Operations (Only 2006 Or After) |
|---|---|---|
2006 | Shanghai Pudong | SYD via MEL; A330-200 and A330-300 |
2007 | NGO | CNS; 767-300ER** |
2012 | Mumbai | Until 2008: SYD via DRW; A330-300. Until 2009: SYD nonstop; A330-200 and 747-300. Until 2012: BNE via Singapore Changi Airport (SIN); A330-300 and 747-400 |
2012 | Buenos Aires | SYD; 747-400 |
2013 | Frankfurt | SYD via Singapore; 747-400 |
2018 |
| MEL and SYD, both continuing to |
2020 | KIX | Until 2007: CNS; 767-300ER**. Until 2020: SYD; A330-200 |
2020 | PEK | Until 2006: MEL via SYD; A330-300. Until 2009: SYD; A330-200 and A330-300. 2017-2020: SYD; A330-200 and A330-300 |
2025 | ICN | Until 2006: BNE; 767-300ER. Until 2008: SYD; 767-300ER. Until 2025: SYD; A330-200 and A330-300 |
* No destination removed before 2006 is included | ** Briefly, seemingly following the cessation of Australian Airlines |
Dubai International Airport
London Heathrow Airport
Qantas To Dubai
For decades, Qantas served LHR via the Far East in partnership with fellow oneworld member 
British Airways. That setup changed in 2012, when the carrier announced its then-new partnership with Emirates. From Qantas’ perspective, this was mainly a means of attempting to improve the fortunes of the airline’s historically loss-making European operations.
From April 2013 to March 2018, Qantas flew to LHR via DXB rather than SIN. It used Emirates’ Terminal 3, which meant that it was easy to move from a Qantas flight to an Emirates service and vice versa. Qantas flew MEL-DXB-LHR and SYD-DXB-LHR daily, with DXB thus having four daily departures. At the time, Emirates had up to 13 daily departures to Australia (!), some of which flew via Asia.
The pair’s agreement remains in place today. They collaborate on routes, schedules, pricing, and so on, and they split flight revenue. For passengers, it involves a reciprocal loyalty program, lounge access (for eligible travelers), and more. Schedule analysis using Cirium data shows that Qantas codeshares with Emirates to 29+ destinations via DXB, while Emirates codeshares with Qantas to 37+ destinations via Australian airports.
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Qantas Stopped Flying To ICN Last Year
After not operating to South Korea between 2009 and 2021, Qantas returned to ICN nearly four years ago. The airline flew on a sub-daily basis from SYD to ICN between December 2022 and May 2025, nearly always on the A330-300.
Low-cost unit Jetstar inaugurated SYD-ICN flights in November 2022 (a month before Qantas’ launch) and also flew on a sub-daily basis. The rationale was that the two carriers would be targeting different parts of the large local market and, as such, would jointly capture more of the pie than if only one of them operated. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the decision was taken for only Jetstar to operate, with its frequency consequently jumping to daily a month after Qantas pulled out.
