Australian flag carrier Qantas is set to make aviation history later this year with the world’s first-ever non-stop scheduled flights between Sydney and Las Vegas, which are scheduled for takeoff from December 2026.
Tapping into the insatiable local demand for international travel has driven Qantas to experiment with destinations that were never previously on its radar, and Sin City has won in the airline’s latest international expansion.
Not that Qantas is a complete stranger to Las Vegas. The airline has been operating a limited number of charter flights to the gambling capital for the last couple of years in partnership with Australia’s National Rugby League.
The latest charter flights took off from the Gold Coast to Las Vegas, marking the third straight year in a row that Qantas has flown Aussie rugby fans to the city for the annual season kick-off Las Vegas Festival.
Regularly scheduled passenger flights, however, will begin a seasonal service running from 29 December 2026 to 12 March 2027, covering key dates in the Las Vegas calendar, including the annual Consumer Electronics Show (CES).
“Australians’ appetite for international travel continues to be incredibly strong,” explained Qantas International chief executive, Cam Wallace.
“Rome and Sapporo have shown us there’s real demand for seasonal services to destinations people want to visit at certain times of year, and we’re continuing to expand those direct connections around the world,” Wallace added.
Las Vegas will become the airline’s 101st destination, and Wallace says this is being made possible by an “historic fleet renewal,” which includes the delivery of new long-range Airbus A321XLR, which takes the pressure off of the widebody aircraft fleet, like the Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner that will be used for the Sydney to Las Vegas.
Steve Hill from the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority explained that, despite the lack of non-stop flights between Australia and Las Vegas, the city has remained a firm favorite amongst Aussie travelers.
“Australia has consistently ranked as our second-largest overseas market and our top international market without a nonstop flight,” Hill commented.
In fact, last year, 250,000 Australians visited Las Vegas, and the new three-times weekly non-stop service will cut up to five hours in traveling times compared to connecting itineraries.
And any time saving will be welcome: Even the non-stop service will clock in at nearly 14 hours, departing Sydney at 9:00 pm and arriving in Las Vegas at 3:55 pm.
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Mateusz Maszczynski honed his skills as an international flight attendant at the most prominent airline in the Middle East and has been flying ever since… most recently for a well known European airline. Matt is passionate about the aviation industry and has become an expert in passenger experience and human-centric stories. Always keeping an ear close to the ground, Matt’s industry insights, analysis and news coverage is frequently relied upon by some of the biggest names in journalism.
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