Qantas Airways announced today that it would withdraw all services to India from 31 March 2002 and also defer the delivery of three Airbus A330 aircraft.
Qantas currently operates five return services each week between Sydney and Mumbai via Singapore.
Qantas Chief Financial Officer Peter Gregg said the decision to withdraw services to India followed a comprehensive review of the airline`s international network.
“We continually scrutinise every route in the Qantas network to ensure we are managing our operations efficiently,” Mr Gregg said. “This process has been particularly important following the terrorist attacks of 11 September 2001 and the consequent action in Afghanistan.
“The decision to withdraw services to India follows the reduction of flights to Rome, Johannesburg, Bangkok, Manila and Buenos Aires.”
Mr Gregg said the withdrawal of services to India would allow Qantas to transfer Boeing 767s from international to domestic operations.
Qantas had therefore decided to defer the delivery of three Airbus A330 aircraft that were to be delivered in mid-2003.
“Qantas has a comprehensive and flexible long-term fleet strategy and is continuing to modernise its fleet,” Mr Gregg said.
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