Qantas aims to cut travel time between London and Brisbane by as much as four hours.
The carrier is to raise frequency between the Queensland gateway and Singapore from seven to nine return flights a week ahead of the southern hemisphere summer.
The expanded schedule, to be introduced from October 27, will see flights timed to improve connectivity with Qantas’ daily service between Singapore and Heathrow, reducing overall travel time to Heathrow by around four hours.
The airline also plans to raise capacity on the Sydney-Singapore route from 14 to 17 flights a week from December 11.
Both schedule changes come as Qantas bids to raise capacity between Singapore and Australia by around 10% or 2,500 extra seats a week, subject to government and regulatory approval.
The planned changes to the airline’s international network also include a new Brisbane-Manila service and more flights between Sydney and Bengaluru in India for four months from mid-December.
Capacity is being released with the withdrawal of a Sydney-Shanghai route from July 28 due to poor demand with flights operating half full.
Aircraft used on the route to China will be redirected to boost flying to other destinations across Asia where there is increasing demand or new tourism opportunities, according to the airline.
Qantas resumed its Sydney-Shanghai service in October after it was suspended during the pandemic but demand has not recovered as anticipated.
“Qantas will continue to monitor the Australia-China market closely and will look to return to Shanghai when demand has recovered,” the airline said.
Qantas International chef executive Cam Wallace said: “We’re always looking to ensure that we have the right aircraft, on the right routes and at the right time of year to best meet the needs of our customers.
“Since Covid, the demand for travel between Australia and China has not recovered as strongly as expected. In some months, our flights to and from Shanghai have been operating around half full.
“That’s why we’ve decided to suspend this route and boost flying to other popular destinations with a new route from Brisbane to Manila and additional flights to Singapore and Bengaluru. This will create more choice for our corporate and leisure customers and make it even easier for them to access the places they need to travel to in Asia.
“We’ll continue to maintain a presence in China through our partners and our existing flights to Hong Kong and look to return to Shanghai in the future.”