Qantas to fly first ever non-stop flights between Brisbane and Los Angeles

Qantas today announced it would commence direct flights between Brisbane and Los Angeles, the first time any airline has offered non-stop scheduled services on the route.

The Chief Executive Officer of Qantas Airways, Geoff Dixon, said Qantas would operate three Boeing 747 non-stop Brisbane-Los Angeles services a week from 14 June 2004. These services will be in addition to the daily Qantas flights from Brisbane to Los Angeles via Auckland, and will take the number of services on the route to 10 per week.

"These new services make it possible, for the first time ever, for American tourists to fly direct to the Sunshine State, and provide easier access to the many world class tourist attractions throughout Queensland," Mr Dixon said.

"They also offer Queenslanders a more convenient way to get to the USA."

Mr Dixon said Qantas had significantly boosted capacity between Australia and the USA over the past six months.

"From next month, Qantas will be offering more scheduled capacity between Australia and Los Angeles than we ever have before, including during the peak period of the Sydney Olympics," he said. "In addition, we continue to operate three flights a week to Honolulu."

Mr Dixon said Qantas had been flying to the USA for 50 years and had invested billions of dollars in this market, including dedicating six new Extended Range Boeing 747-400s to non-stop USA services.

The new Qantas non-stop Brisbane-Los Angeles services will be operated by two-class Boeing 747-400 aircraft on Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays.