- More Flights to South Africa: Qantas and South African Airways expand services to Johannesburg.
- VietJet drops Adelaide, Scoot adds Perth and Melbourne flights.
- New hotels open in Brisbane, Hobart, and Melbourne Airport.
Airlines continue to tinker with their Australian flight schedules and there’s a run of hotel openings to pique travellers’ interest in this month’s wrap-up of travel news and tips.
South Africa flights get a boost
Both Qantas and South African Airways have or are scaling up their flights between Australia and Johannesburg. Qantas has already switched out the 236-seat Boeing 787-9 for the 485-seat Airbus A380-800 on its five-times-per-week Sydney—Johannesburg roundtrips, offering a lot more capacity and a first-class cabin option.
Meanwhile, South African Airways is increasing its thrice-weekly flights between Perth and Johannesburg to four times per week from December 7 and five times per week from January 6. The airline says it is responding to increased demand for flights. The South African Airways flight is an interesting service being the only Airbus A340-operated flight to Australia.
VietJet ‘optimises’ Australian flights, drops Adelaide
VietJet is reworking its Ho Chin Minh – Perth – Adelaide – Ho Chi Minh rotation, axing Adelaide just 12 months after starting flights there. Effective October 27, the airline says it is “optimising its schedules between Vietnam and Australia,” and will have four roundtrips weekly between Ho Chi Minh and Perth.
Adelaide Airport says the flights were popular, and the reason for dropping the city was not due to a lack of demand from South Australians but rather the VietJet fleet needing to reorganise its fleet. But in a classic case of you win some, you lose some, China Southern and Emirates recently announced they were returning to Adelaide.
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Scoot increases flights to Perth and Melbourne
Singaporean low-cost airline Scoot is also tinkering with their Australian schedules this summer. From December 6, its 13 weekly roundtrips between Singapore and Perth will tick up to 14, or double daily. Likewise, Scoot flights between Singapore and Melbourne will increase from 12 to 13 per week in December before going double daily in January. Scoot says the changes are in anticipation of stronger demand.
Air New Zealand business class refurb delayed
Air New Zealand has pushed back the introduction of its first refurbished Boeing 787-9 business class cabin from October to early 2025, blaming supply chain issues. While comfortable to sleep on, Air New Zealand’s current Dreamliner business class seat is considered one of the worst in the industry for its lack of privacy, storage, and angling away from the windows.
The new seats, to be installed on all 14 existing B787-9s, will conform to the industry standard with a forward-facing 1-2-1 design and decent privacy. Alas, there will be no sliding doors unless you pony up extra cash to book one of the four Business Premier Luxe suites at the front of the cabin. Air New Zealand is rebooting its on-again off-again (now on-again) Auckland – Hobart flights on October 27.
Opening date for Doubletree Hobart
Hobart’s newest hotel, DoubleTree by Hilton, is taking bookings from October 30. The new build, located at 179 Macquarie Street (between Barrack and Harrington Streets) has entry rooms from around AUD260 per night and is an easy stroll to Salamanca.
On matters Hilton, the aging Brisbane hotel, which peaked in the 1980s when its in-house Juliana’s Piano Bar was on-point, has been the subject of renovation shutdown rumours for much of the year. It recently stopped taking bookings beyond September 30, citing commercial ‘in-confidence’ reasons. However, a check of Hilton’s booking portal shows the hotel is now accepting reservations through 2025, ending the closure chatter—at least for a while.
Brisbane Star Grand opens
Sticking with Brisbane, the Star Grand opened last month in the Queen’s Wharf precinct beside the river. The hotel’s 340 rooms include 60 suites varying between 75-217 square metres, with the largest being the Skyline Penthouse Suites, which span two levels and feature private guest retreats and separate staff entrances.
However, the plain old standard city view rooms, which vary between AUD450 and AUD850 per night depending on demand, are sufficiently comfortable for most people and include access to the leisure deck and rooftop Skyline bar and restaurant area. If you were wondering, the penthouse suites start at around AUD5,000 per night and include continental breakfast — omelettes are extra.
Accor opens new Melbourne Airport hotels
Accor have opened a Novotel and Ibis at Melbourne airport, the first new on-site hotel since the Parkroyal was built in 2000. The two new hotels, part of the same complex, are a few minutes walk beyond Terminal 4 in the Werribee direction. Accor is running hard on the “it’s not just another airport hotel” theme, even if that’s pretty much exactly what it is.
Still, with multiple airlines scheduling arrival and departures between midnight and dawn at Melbourne, having more places to crash nearby the night before is no bad thing. DMARGE hasn’t stayed at either hotel yet, but the rooms are reportedly good, and the restaurants and bars decent. There is also an indoor heated swimming pool, gym, and expansive co-working area.