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As the national flag carrier of Australia, Qantas’s network is more or less what you’d expect. Its primary hub is in Sydney, the nation’s largest city, while it also operates hubs in Brisbane and Melbourne, two major cities located on Australia’s East Coast (where Sydney is also located). Meanwhile, Qantas also has Perth, its main hub for Australia’s West Coast, allowing it to serve a large portion of the country efficiently while also operating nonstop flights to Europe. But then, you have another, unexpected airport where Qantas has been growing its network: Auckland Airport (AKL).
The Australian flag carrier has flown between AKL and JFK for about three years, but this is because the Boeing 787s currently operating this route cannot fly nonstop to JFK from Sydney. As such, they stop in AKL to refuel and pick up more passengers, but the real route is Sydney-to-JFK via AKL. More interesting are the airline’s recent routes from AKL to Gold Coast Airport (OOL) and to Apia Faleolo International Airport (APW). None of these are hub airports for Qantas, so why do they exist?
Qantas’s New Auckland Routes
On June 16, 2026, Qantas launched a new route between OOL and AKL. This route operates thrice weekly using a Boeing 737-800, with Qantas competing directly against Air New Zealand on this route. What’s odd about this route is that it’s essentially connecting two spokes, and the only other cities that Qantas flies to out of Gold Coast are Melbourne and Sydney, its two largest hubs. In other words, it would be the equivalent of United Airlines flying between Philadelphia and Cancun.
That same day, the airline also commenced new flights between Sydney and APW via AKL, using a 737-800. This route is similar to the JFK flight in that the same flight number is used for both legs, with the Auckland-to-Apia leg operating as a fifth freedom route. The segment between Sydney and Auckland operates daily, while the leg between AKL and APW is only flown three times per week. What’s odd is that a nonstop flight between Sydney and APW is well within the range of a 737-800, while the runway isn’t short.
Fifth freedom routes are typically operated either for aircraft performance reasons or to help improve financial performance. Qantas’s JFK service is an example of the first, while United’s services from Hong Kong to Bangkok and Ho Chi Minh City were started to increase load factors on the airline’s flights from Los Angeles to Hong Kong. Qantas’s services to APW don’t seem to cleanly fit either category, and it’s also noticeable that Qantas serves APW directly from Brisbane, but not from Sydney.
Keeping Operating Costs Lower To Apia
A route between Sydney and Apia would be roughly 2,335 NM (4,325 km) by great circle distance. That’s not impossible, but it would come with relatively high operating costs compared to what you’d expect for a 737. At the same time, demand isn’t sky-high for nonstop flights between Australia and Samoa, which would make it a fairly challenging route. Qantas used to fly an Airbus A330 between Sydney and APW nonstop, but it tellingly switched this service to a 737 out of Brisbane in 2023.
The solution for Qantas was to instead launch the service from Auckland, using the flight number from one of its Sydney services. Not only does this allow Qantas to keep operating costs lower by flying from Auckland, but the airline also has connecting feed in Auckland via its flights from Brisbane, Melbourne, and additional Sydney frequencies. Notably, however, the new flight from Gold Coast arrives after the flight to APW departs. In addition, Qantas also serves Auckland from Perth, but this flight arrives over 12 hours before the departure to APW.
Qantas Destinations Served From Auckland | |
|---|---|
Adelaide Airport (ADL) | Melbourne Airport (MEL) |
Apia Faleolo International Airport (APW) | New York John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) |
Brisbane Airport (BNE) | Perth Airport (PER) |
Gold Coast Airport (OOL) | Sydney Kingsford Smith Airport (SYD) |
Qantas would, of course, have much stronger connecting feed had the flight been a nonstop from Sydney. However, this route would be significantly more expensive to operate. The connecting feed from other Qantas flights in Auckland does improve the economics of flying to APW, and most importantly, there is strong travel demand between New Zealand and Samoa. Demand between Samoa and Australia has been relatively soft. As such, Qantas actually has much better chances of making money with this route versus if it were a nonstop from Sydney.
Expanding Customer Choices Out Of Gold Coast
Gold Coast Airport and Brisbane Airport (BNE) are only about 67 miles (108 kilometers) apart by driving distance. This is a similar distance as that between Philadelphia International Airport (PHL) and Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR), or between Austin Bergstrom International Airport (AUS) and San Antonio International Airport (SAT). The airports do serve distinct markets, but there is also overlap in all three cases to varying degrees. With Gold Coast, the overlap is present, meaning that many passengers just drive to Brisbane, but the markets are very distinct.
Qantas had already served this market with nonstop Jetstar flights, which primarily target leisure travelers flying on a budget. Auckland is by far the largest international market from Gold Coast, and the route is also served by Air New Zealand. While Qantas itself serves this market through Jetstar, premium demand has become quite strong in Australia, and Jetstar is fundamentally a budget airline that only sells economy seats on this route. Crucially, Air New Zealand’s narrowbodies also lack a business class cabin.
Qantas’s 737s, however, do feature business class, and this means that the carrier has a very strong position as the premium airline on this route. Qantas is a full-service airline, unlike its subsidiary Jetstar, and it’s the only airline on this route offering a premium cabin. Given the strong demand for premium seats in the country, this route can best be seen as an opportunistic move where Qantas can directly enter this market and genuinely offer a differentiated product that aligns with current customer demands.
Qantas’s Moves Against Air New Zealand
Although Qantas and Air New Zealand serve two different countries, they compete for some of the same connecting passenger flows. They are direct competitors even if their actual route overlap is relatively small for this reason, and while there are certainly merits to launching these routes on their own, Qantas has also been aggressively competing against Air New Zealand in recent years, ramping up its trans-Tasman frequencies and network while also targeting Air New Zealand’s elite frequent flyers.
One key advantage that Qantas has over its Kiwi rival is that the Australian flag carrier is profitable. Air New Zealand is not. What’s more, Qantas has been expanding and has a significant number of new aircraft on order, whereas Air New Zealand does not. As such, the former is much better positioned to grow its operations, which is extremely problematic for Air New Zealand. What’s more, the latter’s reputation has taken a bit of a hit in recent years, which isn’t a great position to be in when you’re already somewhat stagnant.
To be clear, we’re still early in Qantas’s general push to grow Auckland into more than a spoke. The airline only operates three routes out of AKL to destinations that aren’t Qantas hubs/focus cities, one of which is because AKL is used as a stopover on an ultra-long-haul route, another of which is to capitalize on higher demand and lower operating costs out of AKL, while the third exists as an opportunistic add. However, when you look at these decisions collectively, it’s clear that something more is happening here.
How Qantas Could Use Auckland In The Future
Auckland’s location and relatively strong local demand mean that, despite being the primary hub of a rival airline, AKL can also serve as a valuable asset for Qantas. The Gold Coast route ultimately isn’t as relevant to this strategy, but it’s instead the New York and Apia routes that are really taking advantage of Auckland’s location. The JFK route needs a stopover, while using AKL significantly improves the economics of serving Apia. Therefore, you can expect that Qantas will look at AKL for any future routes that may be difficult technically or economically to fly from Australia.
The JFK route is especially interesting to look at because Qantas is planning to begin serving New York nonstop from Sydney with its Airbus A350-1000ULRs as part of Project Sunrise. Even when this route begins, the airline isn’t planning to discontinue the one-stop service, reportedly because the flights are performing quite well. Qantas had previously served JFK via Los Angeles and suspended this service post-pandemic. The airline restarted the route with the Auckland stopover in 2023.
Airlines Serving AKL-JFK Route | Aircraft | Frequency |
|---|---|---|
Air New Zealand | Boeing 787-9 | Three times per week |
Qantas | Boeing 787-9 | Four times per week to daily (depending on season) |
Air New Zealand also flies between AKL and JFK, having commenced this service in the fall of 2022. Notably, however, Qantas operates more flights per week than Air New Zealand, and while the route is performing well for the former, Air New Zealand has not been succeeding in JFK. Qantas is now demonstrating that it can go toe-to-toe with the Kiwi flag carrier on its home turf, and you can be sure that if Qantas wishes to expand further in the US, then an AKL stopover will be a serious consideration if the route proves particularly challenging.
