Meet The Winners: Qantas Airways

During the Routes Asia 2026 Awards in Xi’an, China, Qantas Airways was named the winner of the Airline category in recognition of its commitment to sustainable network growth and strong collaboration with partners.

Qantas Airways is entering a new era of growth, leveraging fleet modernization and a sharpened network strategy to expand its reach both domestically and internationally.

With significant post-pandemic growth, the Australian airline has introduced more than 40 new domestic services alongside 25 international routes, spanning 12 new destinations.

The introduction of next-generation aircraft has extended Qantas’ operational reach, allowing the carrier to deploy capacity more efficiently across long-haul routes. This has been particularly evident in its renewed focus on Europe, where the airline has strengthened connectivity on services such as Perth-Rome and Sydney-Paris (via Singapore).

Beyond Europe, Qantas has also expanded across the Americas with additional frequencies to Vancouver and plans to launch the first nonstop service between Australia and Las Vegas. The new route, due to commence in December, becomes the 101st destination on the airline’s international network and its eighth city across North and South America.

This growth over the past few years can be attributed to Qantas’ strategy to reshape its network, prioritising its domestic stronghold and neighbouring regions, particularly the Southwest Pacific. This shift has driven connectivity and profitability, with capacity across the Tasman and Pacific Islands increasing by 120% since the pandemic.

Reflecting on Qantas’ recent success at the Routes Asia Awards, Alex Truskin, Manager Network Planning, highlighted the collaborative effort behind the airline’s achievements: “We’re very thrilled and honoured on behalf of Qantas, to be recognised by our peers and the industry.”

Truskin added: “A lot of effort went into the submission from the team across Qantas; the network planning team, commercial team and our friends at Jetstar as well, as our dual brand colleagues.”

Looking ahead, the airline is continuing to deepen partnerships and expand its presence. Truskin said: “Recently we’ve been working with our partners to expand our presence in Europe, via our hubs in Singapore and Perth. Flying people long distance is our speciality.”

As a Routes 360 member, Qantas Airways regularly updates its airline requirements to help streamline meetings and collaboration at Routes events.