Qantas extends international connection time to 90 minutes

Qantas has extended its minimum time for outbound international connections from 60 minutes to 90 minutes, as another strategy to reduce mishandled and missing baggage for customers. The new change will come into effect from 21 August and apply to all Qantas new and existing bookings that include a domestic connection ahead of an outbound international flight. Passengers who already have a booking that no longer meets to 90-minute minimum connection time will be contacted and moved on to an earlier flight at no extra cost, Qantas said. The move has been made in an effort to give staff on the ground more time to move bags onto flight connections, and reduce the number of cases of missing bags for overseas travellers, after the airline’s average rate of mishandled bags rose to 9 in 1000. “While there are lots of good reasons why, the simple fact is our operational performance hasn’t been up to the standard our customers are used to, or that we expect of ourselves,” said Qantas Group chief executive Alan Joyce. “We are taking additional steps to get back to our best, which have been shaped by feedback from our frontline teams who are doing a phenomenal job under tough circumstances. Bringing our operations back to pre-COVID-19 standard and maintaining our focus on safety is our absolute priority.”<br/>