Qantas has launched double daily services between Australia and Tokyo. Qantas flight QF25 will depart from Sydney to Tokyo’s Haneda Airport tonight, followed by the departure of QF61 from Brisbane to Narita Airport tomorrow morning.

Qantas International CEO Gareth Evans says the almost doubling of capacity to Tokyo marks a new era for the national carrier’s presence in Japan in the wake of a growing Australia-Japan travel market.

“This significant capacity expansion has been extremely well-received by Qantas customers and especially by corporate travellers heading directly to downtown Tokyo, who can now save up to one and a half hours on their airport commute by flying into or out of Haneda,” says Mr Evans. Passengers can also reach other destinations within Japan through Jetstar Japan’s extensive domestic network.

Qantas’ Brisbane-Narita launch flights will be operated by the airline’s refurbished A330 aircraft, with lie-flat seats in Business, brand new Economy seats and new inflight entertainment. The refit of these aircraft, which takes one month each, is being done at Qantas’ heavy maintenance facility in Brisbane. These aircraft are being introduced progressively onto Asian routes.

The launch of double daily Qantas flights to Tokyo follows Jetstar’s introduction of its Boeing 787 Dreamliner on the Melbourne-Narita route earlier this month, increasing the available seats between the two cities by 20 per cent over the next year. The upgrade from Airbus A330 aircraft to the higher capacity B787 will be complemented by an increase in flights from four to six per week December to March to meet growing demand for flights between Melbourne and Japan in the peak season. www.qantas.com.au