By Putu Deny Wijaya
American Airlines Resumes Sydney Services
American Airlines has resumed service between Sydney and the United States. The airline joined competitors Qantas, Delta Air Lines, and United Airlines on the Los Angeles – Sydney route for the first time in several months this week. The Dallas-based airline has joined the ranks of other airlines that have recently resumed service to Australia’s largest city.
On Thursday morning, an American Airlines Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner arrived in Sydney after flying AA73 across the Pacific. The airplane flew AA72 back to Los Angeles after a few hours on the ground.
American Airlines will finally fly to and from Sydney on a daily basis, as it did before the travel crisis. On the Sydney – Los Angeles city pair, the 787-9 accommodates 285 people and adds 3,990 weekly seats in and out of Sydney.
United’s daily Dreamliner service, Delta’s daily A350-900 flights, and Qantas’ soon-to-be Airbus A380 services will all compete on the route. It’s not quite business as usual on this city pair, but the four airlines together provide plenty of options to potential travelers
Except for United’s Sydney – San Francisco flights, other West Coast North American cities are still absent from the departures board at Sydney. Both Delta and American only ever flew the Sydney – Los Angeles route, but United usually also flies Sydney – Houston. Qantas typically flies to San Francisco, Vancouver, and Dallas in addition to Los Angeles. One Qantas Los Angeles flight also usually continues onto New York.
There’s plenty of business flying freight between Sydney and Los Angeles in both directions. However, passenger traffic remains subdued. While the US is welcoming fully vaccinated Australians, Australia is yet to roll out the welcome mat to fully vaccinated US citizens. That will change soon enough. But in the meantime, the restriction puts a dampener on demand for…