Qantas’ newest destination in the United States isn’t necessarily what you might expect, though in fairness, the route also won’t be around for that long.
In this post:
Qantas will fly nonstop to Las Vegas for first time
Qantas plans to launch a new seasonal route between Sydney (SYD) and Las Vegas (LAS), marking the first-ever regularly scheduled nonstop flight between Australia and Las Vegas. The service will operate 3x weekly between December 29, 2026, and March 12, 2027, with the following schedule:
QF55 Sydney to Las Vegas departing 9:00PM arriving 3:55PM
QF56 Las Vegas to Sydney departing 8:20PM arriving 6:35AM (+2 days)
The 7,720-mile will operate in both directions on Sundays, Tuesdays, and Fridays. The eastbound flight is blocked at 13hr55min, while the westbound flight is blocked at 15hr15min. Qantas will use a Boeing 787-9 for the route, featuring 236 seats, including 42 business class seats, 28 premium economy seats, and 166 economy seats.
Here’s how Qantas International CEO Cam Wallace describes this:
“Australians’ appetite for international travel continues to be incredibly strong. Rome and Sapporo have shown us there’s real demand for seasonal services to destinations people want to visit at certain times of year, and we’re continuing to expand those direct connections around the world.”
“Our historic fleet renewal is giving us the flexibility to deploy aircraft where we see demand, opening up route possibilities that simply weren’t there before. Las Vegas becomes our 101st destination and is a great example of how we’re using that capability. This growth also creates real opportunities for our people, particularly our pilots and cabin crew, as we expand where we fly.”
This seems like a sensible but unique route addition
Ultimately we’re talking about a very limited time service here, as we’ll see 30(ish) flights operated in each direction. So, is there merit to this route?
The timing for this service is strategic, not just coinciding with peak season for visiting Australia, but it also operates during some of Las Vegas’ biggest global events and expos, including the Consumer Electronics (CES), as well as the Las Vegas Festival, an annual National Rugby League (NRL) event, which is popular with Australians.
It’s also noted how Australia ranks as the top international market without a nonstop flight to Las Vegas, and over 250,000 Australians visit Las Vegas each year.
So this seems like a smart, strategic route, and I’m sure the airline will have no issues filling these planes with good yields, especially given the short season. However, I wouldn’t expect year-round service, and think it’s much more likely that we see nonstop flights from somewhere in Australia to Chicago (ORD), Seattle (SEA), etc.
Bottom line
As of late 2026, Qantas will be launching a new seasonal route between Sydney and Las Vegas. The route will operate 3x weekly for a little over two months, and it’s well timed around CES and other peak season travel. It’s very cool to see a nonstop link between a city and a country for the first time, though yeah, I wouldn’t expect this route on a year-round basis anytime soon.
What do you make of Qantas adding Las Vegas flights?
This is a stupid route and unlikely to be the best use of this aircraft.
Makes sense, the only people who are still willing to go to the US for leisure are bogans
"Still willing to go to the US".
US traffic is only down a few percentage points overall, and remains one of the top 5 most visited countries in the world. Majority are still doing it.
While almost every country is registering record tourist arrivals, curiously, the only one registering a decline is the US. But for the MAGAs, everything is normal...
Crazy people!
it's not normal. But realistically if it's 5% down not 90% that's still a lot of people. So unless you are saying 95% all people are "bogans" your statement is just incorrect.
Now if we are arguing whether 95 % of all people are idiots then I'd be on board with this but it's not really related to visiting the US. (And 95% Americans are idiots won't cut it because they don't visit the US they are stuck there)
How many of that percentage is for leisure though or just people who are traveling for work and just hoping things will be different in a few years time?
Does the US air traffic being down include domestic travel? If so, it wouldn't be surprising if international arrivals dropped even more than that.
Bogans do love Trump though, they've just agreed to build a Trump Tower there, and given the record of everything...
How many of that percentage is for leisure though or just people who are traveling for work and just hoping things will be different in a few years time?
Does the US air traffic being down include domestic travel? If so, it wouldn't be surprising if international arrivals dropped even more than that.
Bogans do love Trump though, they've just agreed to build a Trump Tower there, and given the record of everything Trump touches turns to sht, it'll be interesting to see if that name can single handedly pop the long overinflated property market in Australia too.
Their A321XLR will also be making it's international debut - with domestic recliners in Business Class!
QANTAS are swapping out their current A330 with flat beds on the BNE-MNL route to the A321XLR.
8hr block time! eeewwww
So odd. They really should just focus on getting the nonstop SYD-JFK up and running.
Oh YEAH, because they can't do two things at once. SMH
Given that they are reducing MEL-LAX from an A380 to a 787 citing lack of demand, I cannot imagine there is any haste to get JFK up and running.
I think LHR will be the launch route for sunrise.
How is MEL to LAX relevant to JFK to SYD? A completely different set of city pairs.
Well Julia....put it this way.
Let's take Australia - US as an overall market.
Currently, Qantas flies 5 x per week from SYD to JFK via AKL - using a 787. It currently flies from both SYD and MEL to LAX daily using an A380. So, we can see from the outset that JFK has significantly less demand than LAX. And LAX is seeing a reduction,
Now let's look at project sunrise. Two routes have...
Well Julia....put it this way.
Let's take Australia - US as an overall market.
Currently, Qantas flies 5 x per week from SYD to JFK via AKL - using a 787. It currently flies from both SYD and MEL to LAX daily using an A380. So, we can see from the outset that JFK has significantly less demand than LAX. And LAX is seeing a reduction,
Now let's look at project sunrise. Two routes have been announced. SYD - LHR and JFK. SYD - LHR is currently served daily by an A380 via SIN, compared to JFK on a 787-9.
I think with both those scenarios you can work out that demand for SYD LHR is quite a bit higher than SYD JFK.
I would have thought that Macau would be a lot closer.
Have you been to Australia? Our drink prices are ridiculous. At least in Vegas you get decent pours.
@ CJ: Have you seen the drink prices in Vegas?
And I have been to Australia many times. I don't drink so I don't care about the prices. I don't see the business case for this flight and its sustainability.
Australians love to drink. I can imagine the flight crews providing spotty service from being hung-over train wrecks from their Vegas layovers.
But will they be able to afford the drink prices in Vegas...
In addition, Australian schools have a summer break which covers Christmas and most if not all of January. But I would expect that families would tolerate an LAX arrival.
Is this new route focused on the Australia point of sale? Tourism to Las Vegas is down sharply in 2025 (something like 7.5%) and demand for travel to the US also down significantly.
"demand for travel to the US also down significantly."
I love the obsession with this untrue narrative. Why pretend there's a massive collapse, at best it's down by a few percentage points, for certain countries traffic has gone up. The US remains one of the top 5 most visited countries in the world.
While almost every country is registering record tourist arrivals, curiously, the only one registering a decline is the US. But for the MAGAs, everything is normal...
Crazy people!
You are correct and a lot of it has to do with Currency Exchange Rates, which are very unfavorable to travelers from many countries, including Australia and New Zealand.
The exchange rate for Australian travellers in the US is the best it's been for about four years.