Qantas and American Airlines have unveiled plans to expand their longstanding relationship, which will see the US carrier flying from Los Angeles to Sydney for the first time, and Qantas returning to San Francisco.

Qantas will return to the Sydney-San Francisco route – currently the most popular onward destination for corporate customers that it doesn’t already serve directly on its network – from December 20, 2015. Services will initially operate on peak days, and ramp up to six flights per week in January 2016. The flights will be operated on Qantas’ newer Boeing 747-400 aircraft, which are fitted out in a similar fashion to the carrier’s A380s.

Qantas’ flights to San Francisco are made possible by American Airlines starting a direct daily Sydney to Los Angeles service from December 19, 2015. This will replace four of Qantas’ B747 Sydney-Los Angeles services per week, and one Qantas B747 Melbourne-Los Angeles service per week.

American Airlines’ Trans-Pacific flights will be operated by its new B777-300Er featuring lie-flat seats in First and Business. Qantas will retain its daily A380 Sydney-Los Angeles and Melbourne-Los Angeles services, as well as its B747 Brisbane-Los Angeles flights, and the airline will codeshare on each other’s services.

The enhanced relationship also provides opportunities for future growth into trans-Pacific markets not currently served by either airline.

“American Airlines is one of our most important alliance partners, and this deal strengthens the long-standing ties between us to provide a platform for future growth across the pacific,” said Qantas group CEO Alan Joyce. “Together with American, we can offer direct flights and unrivalled frequencies from Australia to Hawaii, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Dallas Fort Worth, seasonal services to Vancouver and one-stop services to JFK via LAX. We also offer coordinated schedules that allow seamless travel within the United States and Australia.” www.qantas.com.au