Australia’s Qantas boosts Europe flight as demand climbs due to Mideast war

March 26 (Reuters) – Australia’s flag carrier Qantas Airways <QAN.AX said on Thursday it is adding flights to Rome and Paris to meet an upswing in demand for European routes, while global air travel remains severely disrupted after the Middle East war forced the closure of major hubs, including Dubai and Doha.

Here are some details:

* The changes are enabled by redeploying some Boeing 787aircraft from the carrier’s U.S. routes and moving some A330domestic flying onto international routes. * Qantas joins a string of carriers, including Hong Kong’sCathay Pacific that are upgrading its services to Europe tocater to a surge in demand. * The price of flights between Asia and Europe soaredearlier this month after the closure of key Gulf hubs due to theU.S.-Israel war against Iran, as travellers looked to bypass theMiddle Eastern airspace. * Flights between Perth and Rome will be upgraded to a dailyservice from four return flights per week. * Flights to Paris will increase to five return flights perweek from three. The service will originate in Sydney andoperate via Singapore rather than Perth, allowing an additional60 passengers per flight. * Flights between Perth and Singapore will increase fromdaily to 10 per week. * Customers  impacted  by the schedule changes are beingcontacted and  offered alternative flights within 24 hours oftheir original departure or a refund, Qantas added in itsstatement. * “The group continues to monitor the situation in theMiddle East and its impact on fuel security, the price of fuel,and demand for travel, and will make further adjustments asrequired,” Qantas said.

(Reporting by Nikita Maria Jino in Bengaluru; Editing by Rashmi Aich)