• New six weekly Qantas Sydney-San Francisco route commenced today and daily American Airlines Sydney-Los Angeles route commences tomorrow
• Enhanced partnership will increase the airlines’ capacity to the US and Sydney by 25 per cent or 225,000 seats a year
• Set to boost tourism and visitor expenditure for Sydney, NSW and Australia

Qantas and American Airlines today launched their expanded partnership at Sydney Airport, which will increase capacity to the United States and provide more choice for travellers in time for Christmas.

Qantas today commenced a six weekly Sydney-San Francisco service on a 364-seat B747- 400ER aircraft, while American Airlines’ inaugural daily Los Angeles-Sydney service on a 310- seat B777-300ER aircraft touches down at Sydney Airport tomorrow.

“The expanded Qantas and American Airlines partnership will provide more choice and convenience for passengers travelling between Sydney and the United States,” Sydney Airport Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer Kerrie Mather said.

“We’re pleased that Qantas is returning to San Francisco and we’re also excited to officially welcome the world’s largest airline, American Airlines, to Sydney tomorrow with their inaugural flight from Los Angeles.

“The US is Sydney’s most popular outbound destination and these new services will provide travellers with access to the airlines’ enhanced network in time for Christmas.

“We look forward to welcoming more visitors from the US to Sydney, as this expanded partnership will increase capacity between Sydney and the US by 25 per cent or 225,000 seats a year.”

Ms Mather launched the expanded partnership at Sydney Airport today alongside Qantas Group CEO Alan Joyce and American Airlines Senior Vice President International and Cargo Art Torno.

Destination NSW and Tourism Australia also supported this additional US capacity and continue to work to grow US visitor numbers to Sydney, NSW and Australia.

Minister for Trade, Tourism and Major Events Stuart Ayres said in the year ended September 2015, NSW received 341,500 overnight visitors from the United States who spent $581 million in NSW.

“The NSW Government, through its tourism and major events agency Destination NSW, maintains a strong relationship with Qantas as part of our strategy to increase tourism across the State, helping to boost the NSW visitor economy,” Mr Ayres said.

“We are delighted to welcome these new services and look forward to working with Qantas’ partner American Airlines and showcasing our beautiful city, award-winning restaurants, world-class shopping and surrounding regions to visitors from the United States as a result of our wonderful partnerships.”

The expanded partnership will offer four routes between Sydney and mainland North America, increasing the airlines’ combined mainland US frequencies to 27 a week. The partnership will enable passengers to access more than 150 North American destinations through American Airlines’ domestic network, including more than 50 destinations from Los Angeles. Qantas is also increasing its six weekly Sydney-Dallas service to seven times a week from April 2016.