More flights into South Australia to meet strong demand

Helping put South Australia at the top of the holiday list for international visitors, Qatar Airways has today announced it will increase its flights into Adelaide from Doha and Auckland.

It comes as data from Adelaide Airport shows the number of weekly domestic airline seats has exceeded pre pandemic levels.

Qatar Airways will increase its Doha to Adelaide service, as well as the extension of that route – its Auckland to Adelaide service, from three to five flights weekly from July 1. With the additional flights, the carrier will operate 38 weekly flights to Australia.

Operated by a B777-300ER, the increased services aim to meet booming travel demand and provide greater connectivity for South Australia to the world.

Qatar Airways introduced the connection between Adelaide and Auckland in April when the airline moved its Auckland connection from Brisbane to Adelaide.

An extension of the airline’s service between Doha and Adelaide, the Auckland connection is improving accessibility to South Australia for New Zealand visitors – a market worth around $45 million to SA’s visitor economy pre COVID.

Published airline data shows that since 23 May 2022, the total number of airline seats scheduled per week into Adelaide from interstate has been above 2019 levels.

Premier Peter Malinauskas said as the world opens up, it is fantastic to see access to South Australia grow and to hear travel demand is booming.

"It was only two months ago when Qatar Airways expanded its flight schedule into South Australia, tagging its Doha-Auckland service through Adelaide, and already, it is increasing these services to our once fourth largest international market to meet strong demand," he said.

"On top of this, we’re seeing more domestic flights being scheduled than prior to the pandemic, helping drive hotel occupancy in our CBD to the highest of any major city across Australia and New Zealand.

"More flights mean more leisure and business visitors, increased freight capacity and greater connectivity for our state to the world, helping grow jobs and our economy."

Minister for Tourism Zoe Bettison said the increase of international flights to Adelaide shows South Australia’s importance on the global stage.

"People are as excited to ever to travel again, demonstrated by the number of weekly domestic airline seats exceeding pre-pandemic levels," she said.

"The Government welcomes Qatar Airways’ commitment to our State.

"Total visitor expenditure in our state in March 2022 reached 84 per cent of pre pandemic levels, which was a great result for our post-COVID recovery."

Qatar Airways Vice President of Sales for Southeast Asia, Southwest Pacific & Indian Subcontinent, Jared Lee said the increase in flights to Adelaide is a positive sign for the travel industry, as it signals a healthy return of travel demand post-pandemic."

"It highlights Qatar Airways’ ongoing commitment to the South Australian market to meet the booming travel demand and provide connectivity for South Australians to our wide global network," he said.

"The Australia and New Zealand region continues to be an area of strong growth for Qatar Airways and expanding this service will support the development of the economy and tourism sector in both countries."

Adelaide Airport Managing Director Brenton Cox said the service increase is great news for customers travelling from Adelaide to both Doha and Auckland.

"We’re excited to see further growth in our international network, and the timing of this announcement couldn’t be better with Australia qualifying for the FIFA World Cup later this year," he said.

"Flights to Doha offer excellent connections to European destinations, while the onward services from Adelaide to Auckland are proving very popular. It’s also great news for our local exporters seeking aviation freight links either to New Zealand or to Doha and on to major trading partners around the globe.

"We’re seeing strong growth across our international and domestic networks, and the number of domestic flights to and from Adelaide has now exceeded pre-pandemic levels."