In the 2024-2025 winter season, American Airlines will add its second destination in Australia, Brisbane. The seasonal flights will be part of the airline’s joint venture with Qantas.
Continue reading to learn more.
American Airlines to Add Dallas – Brisbane Using Premium 787-9s
On February 2, 2024, American Airlines announced that it will add non-stop seasonal flights between its Dallas Ft. Worth hub and Queensland’s capital Brisbane in October 2024. The flights will only operate during the winter schedule.
The flights are not available for sale yet and the exact schedule has not been announced either. That said, with the 2024 winter schedule starting on October 27, 2024, and ending on March 29, 2025, the route might operate throughout that period, and if not than in a subset of that period.
In addition to offering a non-stop link between the two cities, the new route will also enable connecting itineraries from Brisbane to “more than 100 destinations across the United States that currently require at least two stops” according to the airline’s statement.
American Airlines will use the Boeing 787-9 on the new route. Rather than using its existing 787-9s, though, it will use airframes that are yet to be delivered. The reason behind that is the 30 787-9s American Airlines currently has on order will be equipped with a premium-heavy configuration first announced in 2022. The airline is expected to take delivery of the first 787 with the new interior later this year.
While current American Airlines 787-9s are equipped with 285 seats including 30 in business, 21 in premium economy, and 234 (including 27 with extra legroom) in economy class, the new 787-9s will be equipped with just 244 seats including 51 in business, 32 in premium economy, and 161 (including 18 with extra legroom) in economy class.
Passengers traveling on the new 787-9s will also be able to enjoy improved seats in all classes including reverse herringbone seats with doors in business class.
American Airlines, on the other hand, will be able to operate the ultra-long-range route non-stop thanks to the premium-heavy configuration and thus lighter weight of the new airframes. If range wasn’t an issue, chances are American would deploy the aircraft on a more premium route instead.
The Dallas – Brisbane route will be, at 8,303 miles, American Airlines’ longest. For comparison, Dallas – Sydney is, at 8,578 miles, slightly longer, and Qantas blocks the flights at just over 15 hours eastbound and just over 17 hours westbound.
American Airlines and Qantas Transpacific Joint Venture
The new seasonal Dallas – Brisbane route will be a part of American Airlines and Qantas joint venture which connects multiple cities in Australia/New Zealand and the US/Canada, mainly using Qantas metal.
As part of the joint venture, Dallas already has non-stop flights to Sydney and Melbourne in Australia on Qantas and Auckland in New Zealand on American Airlines.
Qantas additionally connects Sydney with New York JFK (via Auckland), San Francisco, and Vancouver, as well as Brisbane with Los Angeles. Los Angeles also has daily service to Sydney by both American Airlines and Qantas. Lastly, American Airlines offers non-stop flights from Los Angeles to Auckland as part of the joint venture.
In both the US and Australia, the two airlines’ customers have the opportunity to continue to dozens of domestic and international destinations on American Airlines’ and Qantas’ regional flights.
Summary
During the 2024-2025 winter schedule, American Airlines will launch its second route to Australia, Dallas – Brisbane. The route will be operated seasonally using the airline’s yet-to-be-delivered premium-heavy 787-9s.
The route will be part of a transpacific joint venture between American Airlines and Qantas, which offers a wide variety of non-stop connections between the United States (and Vancouver in Canada) and Australia (and Auckland in New Zealand).
