Qantas is catering to rugby fans this summer by offering 3 chartered flights to Buenos Aires to allow supporters to attend the rugby championship.
In the name of sport
The Rugby Championship is an international rugby union competition contested annually by Argentina, Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa – the 4 highest ranked national teams in the Southern Hemisphere. The Six Nations Championship is similar, just based in the Northern Hemisphere.
With kick-off scheduled for 6 August and the games due to last until 24 September, Qantas is gearing up to make travel to the championship easier for fans.
The trio of special flights will run over the months of July, August, and September. Qantas will be enlisting its Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner for the job.
The first of the chartered flights have already departed. It left Brisbane Airport on 29 July and arrived at Buenos Aires’ Ministro Pistarini International Airport on the same day.
And to make it easier to support the Wallabies, all three flights coincide with the dates the Australia National Rugby Union Team is scheduled to play.
Fans wishing to get to Argentina from Australia can catch a Qantas flight on 12 August and 4 September. Aussies wishing to travel back home from Buenos Aires can depart on 31 July, 14 August, and 6 September.
More to come?
While these chartered flights are temporary in the name of the incoming Rugby Championship, it’s not too far-fetched to assume that Qantas is also testing out the return of regular services to Argentina.
And how lovely would that be, considering Qantas’ history in Argentina?
The Australian flag carrier started flying to Argentina in 1998 until 2002. The carrier then became the first Australian airline to operate non-stop services in 2008 with its Boeing 747-400 aircraft. In 2011, those services were discontinued as the CEO at the time felt it was no longer worth it.
In 2021, Qantas returned to the Argentine Republic in 2021 with a record-breaking direct flight from Buenos Aires to the city of Darwin. While the flight was a repatriation flight to bring approximately 107 Australians home, it still made history as the longest commercial flight in the carrier’s history at the time.
Now, Qantas could be considering a more permanent return to Argentina. But perhaps before thinking too much about expanding its current operations, it should focus on the here and now.
The carrier has struggled to retain its positive reputation as of late as it attempts to manage the intense increase in passenger traffic. Qantas passengers are, quite frankly, fed up. The carrier has a lot of work to do to win them back. Perhaps a new Argentina route will do the trick?
What do you make of this latest news from Qantas? Have you flown with the carrier recently? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below.
