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3 November, 2020

Qantas to kick off new Port Macquarie service, as it strengthens Sabre partnership

A new service from Qantas between Port Macquarie and Brisbane will commence later this month, off the back of eased coronavirus restrictions in Queensland.

After months of closures at the border between Queensland and NSW, to halt the spread of the coronavirus, regional residents from NSW are now allowed into the Sunshine State.

With the ban on arrivals ending at 1am today, Qantas has resumed daily services between Newcastle and Brisbane, which have not operated since July.

A Tamworth-to-Brisbane service would resume on 12 November, operating three times per week, too.

Furthermore, the national carrier is preparing to commence a new route between Port Macquarie and Brisbane on 18 November. Flights will operate up to five times per week with the airline’s Q400 turboprop aircraft, adding more than 700 seats on the route each week.

“While Friday’s borders announcement was not the one our people, the tourism industry or travellers had been waiting for, we’re pleased to be able to add some more flights back into our schedule,” a Qantas spokesperson said in a statement.

“This increased flying helps get more of our people back into the air, maintain travel options for regional communities and drive much-needed tourism.

We expect the new flights to Port Macquarie will be popular with Queensland travellers looking to visit the beautiful coastal town so we’re pleased the easing of travel restrictions has made this possible.”

The announcement, however, is bittersweet for Qantas, which has consistently called for Queensland and Western Australia’s ‘hard borders’ to fall.

Qantas claims it and budget-arm Jetstar were ready to schedule “more than 1,000 flights between Sydney and destinations in Queensland” for the month of November, had the borders opened to all of NSW.

“This would have brought around 200,000 people and injected millions of dollars into local economies in both states,” the airline said.

The news comes as Anastacia Palaszczuk secured an historic third-term as Premier of Queensland.

Sabre strengthens partnership with Qantas

Meanwhile, Sabre Corporation has announced an enhancement to its agreement with Qantas that will offer agents access to “richer” information about the airline’s fares, products and services.

Sabre’s graphical ‘Sabre Red 360’ interface will now showcase Qantas products with relevant and engaging content through the airline’s connection with ATPCO.

Moreover, Sabre will integrate Qantas’ universal product attributes (UPAs), or targeted visual content, that bring unique airline fares, products and services to life.

This content has recently expanded into Reassurance UPAs which highlight messaging and graphics about the additional health measures airlines like Qantas are taking to ensure a safe travel environment.

Sabre Red 360 will also showcase Qantas amenities, such as seat pitch and power outlets, and universal ticket attributes (UTAs), which are consumer-friendly benefits such as baggage allowance and seat selection.

The connection to Qantas’ ATPCO Routehappy Rich Content expands on Sabre’s existing partnership with Qantas through its branded fares solution to deliver greater value to the industry.

Featured image source: iStock/Blake Avery Content

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