Qantas Destinations/Routes in the 1970's and 1980's

[Errajane]

Hello,

We would like to know the Qantas routes/destinations it had in the 70's and 80's with both the Boeing 707 and 747. We have not been able to get a hold of some time-tables from that era but people we have asked who travelled on Qantas from that time period have given us some clues, but their memories are fading so we would like some confirmation. Note, these are for flights operated by Qantas directly; not code share with other airlines.

This is what we have so far;

Europe destinations from Australia;
London, Manchester, Amsterdam, Frankfurt, Paris, Athens, Rome, Belgrade, Istanbul, Vienna,

Asia/Middle East destinations from Australia;
Bahrain, Bombay, Tehran, Damascus, Calcutta, Karachi, Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur, Singapore, Jakarta, Denpasar (Bali), Manila, Colombo,Tokyo, Nagoya, Fukuoka, Hong Kong, Beijing

Pacific/USA destinations from Australia;
Honolulu, Port Moresby, Nadi, Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch, Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York, Chicago,Vancouver, Torronto, Tahiti, Acapulco, Mexico City, Nassau, Bermuda, Papeete, Noumea, Norfolk Island

Africa destinations from Australia;
Johannesburg, Mauritius, Harare, Cairo

Please correct what's already listed, or add those which are missing.

Thank you.

[Feather #3]

Europe - IST yes, Edinburgh and Copenhagen, no [there were various charters all over the place, but you're looking for the regular destinations?]

Asia/ME - Abu Dhabi no, add Tehran & Calcutta, KHI for charters only in that period [used before 1970 as a regular destination], Columbo yes.

Pac/USA - How could you miss the "Fiesta Route"?? Tahiti, Acapulco, Mexico City, Nassau, Bermuda??

G'day

PS just read your other query.....how could I miss JFK...we're square on the Fiesta Route now!!

[Feather #3]

Further to my last, enhanced by breakfast and with Tailwheel stirring up more thoughts, again, how could one forget New[??] Delhi and Damascus? Had a couple of slips in Delhi during various Indo/Paki wars; New it ain't!

Then again, there's no mention of the South Africa route [whose name escapes us both; my wife flew during the '70's]; Mauritius and Jo'burg, then Harare when the SA Gov't fell from grace.

Give us a while and we may conjure up some more.

BTW, in case of a dispute, I can produce the logbook/s [starting the 6th!] to prove the case.

G'day

[Fris B. Fairing]

South Africa is (was?) the Wallaby Route.

Regards

[Fris B. Fairing]

Errajane

I have a timetable for July 1970 which lists the following "Qantas Styopovers":

Acapulco
Amsterdam
Athens
Auckland
Bahrain
Bali
Bangkok
Bermuda
Brisbane
Cairo
Calcutta
Christchurch
Colombo
Darwin
Djakarta
Frankfurt
Hong Kong
Honolulu
Istanbul
Johannesburg
Kuala Lumpur
London
Manila
Mauritius
Melbourne
Mexico City
Nadi
Nassau
New Delhi
New York
Norfolk Island
Noumea
Papeete
Perth
Port Moresby
Rome
SanFrancisco
Singapore
Sydney
Teheran
Tokyo
Vancouver
Vienna
Wellington

Hope this helps.
Rgds

[Feather #3]

More Japan

Most inspiration must come from food!?

Over lunch we discussed the Japanese route and the "cutoff" of the end of the '80's.

Checking the logbook, we started to Nagoya and Fukuoka in the late '80's. Around that time the B767 started to Osaka and Sapporo, although the latter tended to be during the ski season, but scheduled rather than charter.

We'll keep thinking......[thinks; after a major fiasco there early in my command career, how could I have missed Vienna?? Fris got it though!]

G'day

[chimbu warrior]

I vaguely recall that they briefly went to Yugoslavia as well. Anyone else remember this?

[qf 1]

They did go to Zagreb Croatia,which was Yugoslavia in the early eighties

[Feather #3]

Zagreb may have been a charter. Belgrade was a scheduled destination.

G'day

[Errajane]

Thank you for your valuable feedback. It's very much appreciated.

[Jabawocky]

All Fuel stops.........

[Wunwing]

Zagreb was purely a charter destination. The 2 B747 flights I did were 100% women from Melbourne on husband hunting trips. The flights were arranged by a religious organisation.

[Dragun]

Looks like it would've been a lot more interesting and fun being crew back then!

[tipsy2]

I'm pretty sure Zurich & Beijing (Peking in those days) were in there as well.

[Ken Borough]

• Charters operated to and from Madrid but not scheduled services.
• Belgrade was a scheduled destination.
• Damascus was a tech stop once a week as a trade off for use of Syrian airspace. Traffic rights were not exercised or avlaible.
• Scheduled service ports the 70's and 80's in UK and Europe were London Heathrow, Manchester, Amsterdam, Frankfurt, Rome, Athens, Paris, Vienna and Belgrade.

[Wunwing]

My logbook shows a number of PEK in 1987 so I think tipsy 2 is right about Peking/Beijing. I can't see any Zurich in the 80s but have a few charters logged into Switzerland on B707s in the 70s.
Wunwing

[aulglarse]

Errajane, I have noticed on Ebay from time to time Qantas timetables from the past on sale.

Some items from overseas sellers are spelt as Quantas which are not listed as the 'Qantas" listed items.

Good luck.

[Errajane]

Thanks again for the updates.

[qf 1]

i think Zagreb was a charter,but it wasn't full of women,it was full of regular travelers and family's.i did the trip with mum and dad.That trip took me into aviation when i was 14,then that scum bag Dixon took me out of it never to return

[WHBM]

I have here a Qantas August 1980 timetable.

Australasia :

Auckland
Brisbane
Christchurch
Darwin
Melbourne
Perth
Sydney
Wellington

Far East :

Bangkok
Denpasar
Hong Kong
Jakarta
Kuala Lumpur
Manila
Port Moresby
Singapore
Tokyo

South Asia :

Bahrain
Bombay
Damascus

Europe :

Amsterdam
Athens
Belgrade
Frankfurt
London
Paris
Rome

Pacific :

Honolulu
Los Angeles
Nadi
Noumea
San Francisco
Vancouver

The entire operation was with 747s, which led to some very low frequencies, once a week at minor points. The exception was Wellington, where the complete Air NZ and Qantas Trans-Tasman operation was by Air NZ DC-8. Otherwise even routes such as Christchurch to Brisbane were 747s.