Qantas Airways has started taking bookings for international flights from July 1st.
The Australian flag-carrier previously said it did not expect to fly internationally until much later in the year, and now appears to be gambling sufficient Covid-19 vaccinations will taken place to reopen routes.
Ticket sales for Japan, Hong Kong and Singapore, which had been set to start in March, have been pushed back to July, while other destinations like London have been brought forward from October.
New Zealand is the only overseas destination to which Qantas is currently flying.
“Recently we have aligned the selling of our international services to reflect our expectation that international travel will begin to restart from July 2021,” Qantas said.
“We continue to review and update our international schedule in response to the developing Covid-19 situation.”
Although countries including Singapore, China, Israel, the United States and the United Kingdom have started vaccinating their populations, Australia is yet to authorise a Covid jab.
There are no plans to begin until at least March.
In December, Qantas said it expects to fly the vast majority of its normal domestic schedule in the first quarter after major state borders reopen.
By June, the airline should be generating enough cash to begin repairing its balance sheet, the airline said.