Australian carrier Qantas to start flights on Sydney-Bengaluru route

Australian carrier Qantas on Friday announced it will start flights on the Sydney-Benglauru route from September 14 onwards and is finalising a codeshare partnership with Indian carrier IndiGo.

In a codeshare partnership, each carrier on its distribution system can sell seats on other's flights.

Currently, IndiGo has codeshare partnerships with Turkish Airlines, Qatar Airways and American Airlines.

The Sydney-Bengaluru flight will operate four times a week from September 14 onwards on a A330 aircraft, a joint statement by both the airlines stated.

"These are the first direct flights between Australia and southern India by any airline, cutting almost three hours off the current fastest trip between Bengaluru and Sydney," it noted.

Currently, Qantas operates flights to India on only one route -- between Melbourne and Delhi -- five times per week.

"Travellers are also set to benefit from improved one-stop access to Sydney from more than 50 Indian cities, as part of a proposed codeshare agreement between Qantas and IndiGo," the statement noted.

Once finalised, customers will have more convenient access from not only the major Indian cities, but many popular regional cities such as Pune and Goa, it mentioned.

The proposed codeshare agreement will enable seamless connections via Bengaluru, Delhi, or Singapore to Australia's largest capital cities, it noted.

"As part of the proposed agreement, customers who join the Qantas Frequent Flyer program will be able to earn and redeem points on connecting IndiGo flights (QF code only) and IndiGo will recognise Qantas Frequent Flyer benefits for tiered members (Silver, Gold, Platinum and Platinum One) including priority check-in, additional baggage allowance and priority baggage," it said.

Qantas customers travelling on IndiGo will enjoy the same baggage allowance for the entire journey as well as complimentary food and drinks, it mentioned.

"The partnership will extend to Jetstar customers who will be able to book connecting flights on IndiGo services through its Jetstar Connect platform on jetstar.com, currently intended to start from late April," it noted.

Jetstar is a wholly owned subsidiary of Qantas.

"IndiGo will introduce reciprocal benefits for its customers to connect on Qantas and Jetstar in the future.Sydney-Bengaluru flights go on sale today starting from Rs 78,380 return," it mentioned.

After the coronavirus-induced suspension of two years, India resumed regular international flights from March 27 this year.