Qantas has announced it will operate its seasonal direct flights this winter between Sydney and Sapporo's New Chitose Airport.
Qantas has announced it will operate its seasonal direct flights this winter between Sydney and Sapporo's New Chitose Airport.
Between December 15 and March 28, 2026, the Australian airline will operate three weekly flights (Monday, Wednesday, Saturday) on the route. Airbus A330-200 aircraft with 255 seats – 27 lie-flat Business suites and 228 Economy.
According to Qantas, the seasonal service to Sapporo – with a flight time of over 10 hours (10 hours 50 minutes) – will depart Sydney in the morning and arrive at New Chitose Airport in the early evening.
“The new nonstop flight will save Australians several hours compared to existing one-stop options and enable same-day travel to popular ski resorts Niseko, Furano, Rusutsu and Kiroro. Skiers will also be able to enjoy a morning on the slopes before departing for Sydney in the evening,” Qantas said in its statement.
Qantas previously operated flights to Sapporo in early-2020, which Qantas International CEO Cam Wallace said the airline had “extremely positive feedback from customers.”
“These new flights will save passengers hours of travel time compared to connecting in Tokyo or other cities and give them more time to enjoy on the slopes,” said Wallace.
With the seasonal Sydney-Sapporo route, Qantas operates flights on four routes to Japan this winter including double daily flights on the Sydney-Tokyo (Haneda) route, daily each on Melbourne-Narita, and Brisbane-Narita. Qantas' flights are in addition to its budget subsidiary's Jetstar's five routes between Australia and Japan: Sydney-Osaka (Kansai), Brisbane-Kansai, Brisbane-Narita, Cairns-Narita, and Cairns-Kansai.
Combined, the Qantas Group will offer eight routes and 1.5 million seats between Australia and Japan.
The addition of Sapporo will bring Qantas' network to 100 destinations, following recent additions including Paris, Palau, and Port Vila.
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