Qantas will drop flights via Dubai and re-route its London-Sydney services via Singapore from March.
The move marks a return to Singapore for Australian carrier Qantas which dropped the city for Dubai after signing a partnership deal with Dubai-based Emirates in 2012.
Qantas chief executive Alan Joyce announced the switch on Thursday, when he also forecast the carrier would be operating direct flights between London and Sydney by 2022.
Joyce said the return to Singapore “allows us to expand our Asian operation”.
“Qantas no longer needs to fly its own aircraft through Dubai.”
The carrier went into partnership with Emirates after haemorrhaging cash on some international routes and reporting annual losses.
It dropped a partnership with British Airways and switched from Singapore to Dubai at the same time.
However, Joyce reported a pre-tax profit of almost Aus$1.2 billion (€800 million) for the 12 months to June this week following completion of a turnaround plan.
The carrier will nonetheless renew its partnership with Emirates from 2019, Joyce said.
Qantas will switch its daily Airbus A380 service between London and Sydney to operate via Singapore from March, and its London-Melbourne service will also switch from Dubai to operating via Perth.
Other Qantas-Emirates services between Europe and Australia will continue to operate via Dubai.
The Qantas London-Perth flights due to launch next year will be the first direct services between Europe and Australia.