Flights between Kingsford Smith and Incheon will depart four days a week during the southern summer season.
Seoul’s Changgyeonggung Palace. (Photo: Bundo Kim/Unsplash)
The Flying Kangaroo has recently touched down in another new international destination, with direct services between Sydney and Seoul taking off for the first time in nearly 15 years to meet growing demand. Seoul-Incheon is one of the 28 international ports that Qantas has resumed or launched new services to since Australia’s borders reopened; eight of the routes are to countries that were not part of Qantas’ pre-Covid network, including South Korea, Italy, and India.
Airbus A330-300 aircraft have been deployed for the 11-hour journey to the South Korean capital, which will operate four days per week during the peak southern summer season and three times a week between May and October. The new Qantas flights complement Jetstar’s thrice-weekly Sydney-Seoul service, which commenced just last month. Together, the two airlines offer customers more than 200,000 seats on the route annually and the choice to fly to Seoul on six days of the week, with either a premium or low-cost carrier.
In a statement, Qantas Domestic and International CEO Andrew David said the national carrier was adding international capacity as quickly as it could to meet growing demand: “We’ve had a fantastic response from travelers in both directions since tickets first went on sale with strong demand particularly around the upcoming peak school holiday period, which is terrific for Australia’s tourism and small business operators.”
He added, “The combination of Qantas and Jetstar means we can provide business, premium leisure and low-cost travel options to a destination that caters to different budgets, with good connections for those traveling to and from other parts of Australia.”
To celebrate the new Seoul route, Qantas has introduced some Korean-inspired menu items on board, including beef bulgogi, vegetarian bibimbap, and banchan.
Qantas’ Sydney–Seoul schedule is as follows:
| Direction | Flight No. | Departure Time | Arrival Time | Days of Operation |
| SYD–ICN | QF 87 | 9:35 a.m. | 6:20 p.m. | Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday, Sunday |
| ICN–SYD | QF 88 | 7:50 p.m. | 8:15 a.m. (+1 day) |
