The Potential of Qantas Flying into Seattle

A Qantas Boeing 787-9. If Qantas were to fly to Seattle, they would more likely use a Dreamliner (Qantas).

It’s been almost a year since Alaska Airlines joined the Oneworld Alliance and already, it has paid dividends. Whether it was American Airlines introducing service to London or Qatar Airways to Doha, it’s safe to say that Alaska's strategy paid off in spades. In addition, Finnair recently announced seasonal direct flights to Helsinki starting in June 2022. So with all of this news, it begs the question. Could Qantas be next in announcing flights to Seattle from Australia? Considering Alaska’s strong network, I wouldn’t be surprised if Qantas announces flights to Seattle from Sydney, Melbourne, or Perth soon. So why would Qantas fly to the Emerald City? I will go over as to why it would be a good move for the Australian flag carrier and Alaska.

How it Benefits Alaska Airlines

An Alaska Airlines 737 NG lands at Paine Field. If Qantas adds flights into Seattle from Australia, it would be a big boost for the Seattle based carrier (Jamsheed Motafram).

What would it mean for Alaska Airlines if Qantas flies to Seattle? One it would allow leisure travelers all over the western US to fly to destinations in Australia through Seattle and take a direct flight to Australia from there. For example, let’s say someone from Boise Idaho wants to fly to Melbourne and needs an easy option to fly there. Currently Qantas flies to Los Angeles and given the distance between Boise and LAX, the options to fly to LA will be more limited. Seattle on the other hand would be more convenient for a traveler from Boise due to its proximity to Seattle. On the other hand, someone from Australia could fly to Seattle and connect to regional locations to smaller cities such as Boise, Bozeman, and Jackson Hole. Let’s say someone from Sydney decides for the winter wants to go to Bozeman Montana to ski in the Rockies. He or she could hypothetically take a flight from Sydney to Seattle on a Qantas Dreamliner and then from Seattle would take an Embraer E175 to Bozeman. It would help strengthen Alaska’s hold on the Western US. In addition, due in part to Delta’s rapid expansion in Seattle might result in them to start flying directly to Sydney in the future with their A350-900 and that could leave Alaska playing catchup against Delta. While this would pay massive dividends for Alaska Airlines, the bigger question is what’s in it for Qantas?

How it Benefits Qantas

A Qantas 787 takes off from London Heathrow (Simple Flying).

While Alaska would benefit greatly with Qantas flying to Seattle, it wouldn’t be a good investment to begin with if there aren’t any incentives for Qantas. But there are factors as to why it would benefit them too. First off, the aforementioned leisure market would be there especially given that Washington State in general has a higher vaccination rate than most of the country so there are more people eager to travel there. And given how the fall and winter months are gloomy in the Pacific Northwest, a lot of leisure travelers who are tired of the rain and wind would love to have a direct option to Australia from Seattle as opposed to flying to LA or San Francisco and connecting on a flight to Australia from there. In addition, if the major cities of Australia aren’t the main destinations for a traveler, he or she can have the opportunity to fly into Perth, Melbourne, or Sydney and take a connecting flight to smaller cities such as Adelaide or other large cities in the region such as Singapore. In addition, leisure travelers living in Australia during the summer could potentially fly to Seattle during the American summer months to explore the beauty of the Pacific Northwest. But it’s not just leisure travel that could benefit. Once business travel comes back, Seattle could become a hot destination due in large part to tech startups and large companies such as Amazon and Microsoft. For example, if Amazon would want to expand their operations into the land down under, having a direct option to fly to Australia’s major cities from Seattle would benefit both Qantas and Amazon. That being said, could it happen at some point?

Will Qantas Announce Flights to Seattle Soon?

Alaska 737s at Seattle Tacoma International Airport. Qantas announcing flights to Seattle would cement Alaska's status as Seattle's number one airline (Jamsheed Motafram).

While I made the case as to why Qantas should fly to Seattle, the big question is whether they make an announcement soon. Unfortunately, we can’t talk about international expansion without addressing the elephant in the room that’s the COVID-19 pandemic. With the Omicron variant still surging at the moment, it’s difficult to say as to when Qantas will make the announcement because of Australia having one of the more strict border restrictions as opposed to other countries and recently they are starting to open up. In addition, Qantas really isn’t in a hurry to announce new routes due in large part to the transpacific market taking a while to recover as opposed to other markets. But as more people get vaccinated and with more treatments coming online, there is a strong possibility that the era of border restrictions might end because as we go further into 2022, we will be able to live with COVID-19. So while I don’t think they will announce early this year, maybe later this year Qantas will make an announcement considering that Qantas CEO Alan Joyce has a strong interest in Seattle. But what do you guys think? Will Qantas announce a flight to Seattle soon? Be sure to let me know in the comments below and keep looking to the sky!