Qantas Airways to launch Sydney-Cape Town service in Oct-2027
Qantas Airways announced (05-Nov-2026) plans to launch three times weekly Sydney-Cape Town service with Boeing 787-9 equipment on 19-Oct-2027, the "first nonstop flights between Australia and Cape Town". The carrier plans to operate the service until 24-Mar-2028, offering 30,000 seats between the two destinations. Qantas International CEO Cam Wallace stated: "Each year, tens of thousands of customers use our existing Johannesburg service to connect to Cape Town through our partner airlines Airlink (South Africa), so we know there's strong demand for a nonstop service". He added: "The arrival of our new 787s as part of our historic fleet renewal gives us the flexibility to grow our international network in places we know our customers want to travel". [more - original PR]
Background ✨
Qantas previously leaned on its South African partnership for Cape Town access, with Qantas International CEO Cam Wallace highlighting connectivity via Airlink when launching Perth-Johannesburg in Dec-2025.1 Qantas also upgauged Sydney-Johannesburg, with OAG showing A380 deployment from 30-Sep-2024, materially lifting capacity.2 Separately, Cape Town Air Access said LATAM planned to open a three times weekly São Paulo-Cape Town 787-9 service from Sep-2026.3