Qantas Launches New Brisbane to Manila QF97 Flight Ahead of Christmas Holidays

Qantas along with having to rebuild its international network, also has to work to regain the trust of many disappointed Australian travelers which were far from impressed by the airline’s policies in the past few years. Keeping out focus on the route network side of things the Australian carrier is looking to add a new route to a popular destination for both tourists and one of the largest expat communities in the country. Here’s all you need to know about Qantas’ new Brisbane to Manila flight QF97.

Qantas flight QF97 Makes It More Convenient To Fly To Manila From Queensland

Currently, waiting for the new QF97 Brisbane to Manila flight to enter service, passengers looking to fly Qantas from Queensland to the capital of the Philippines would have to connect through Sydney international airport. Now, with QF97 now active Qantas opens up a new more convenient path for passengers to travel with them from Brisbane and more widely Queensland to Manila.

The Australian carrier will be going head to head on this route with Philippine Airlines which currently operates a daily service between Brisbane and Manila, PR222. What Qantas will be doing differently to its competitor on the route is utilizing a much larger aircraft which should ensure a more spacious and comfortable ride. PAL uses an A321neo while Qantas will be introducing on the route one of its A330-300s.

However, while Philippine Airlines operates its flight daily, Qantas’ new QF97 service will have a 4x weekly frequency. Flights will operate every:

• Monday
• Wednesday
• Thursday
• Saturday

The aircraft is one of the airline’s international configuration planes, namely an A330-300 featuring:

• 28 Business Class seats in a 1-2-1 layout over 7 rows
• 269 Economy Class seats in a classic 2-4-2 layout

Here are some quick tips for seat selection. In business class if traveling alone, go for the window side seats on even rows. They are further from the aisle and offer a greater level of privacy. In economy all seats are pretty much equal.

The Timings of The New QF97 Brisbane to Manila Flight

The goal of this new flight is both to tap into the point to point traffic demand and try to intercept connecting traffic from New Zealand’s main city’s. Therefore, the timings of this new service are structured to allow easy transits in both directions for travelers.

	Flight Number	Departure Airport	Airport Code	Departure Time	Arrival Airport	Airport Code	Arrival Time	Flight Duration
	QF97	Brisbane	BNE	19:15	Manila	MNL	01:00	7h 45min
	QF98	Manila	MNL	02:45	Brisbane	BNE	12:20	7h 35min

Also the timing of QF97’s launch is explicitly done to intercept the higher expected traffic of tourists and expats returning home to visit family and friends.