Qantas’ Oneworld partner American Airlines will launch direct flights from Los Angeles to Atlanta on March 5 2015, further bolstering AA’s growing USA network.
With three flights each day between the two cities, Aussie travellers can fly to Los Angeles with Qantas before then jetting onwards with American Airlines throughout the day.
For passengers arriving on QF11 from Sydney, QF93 from Melbourne and QF15 from Brisbane, AA1249 is the perfect connection – even if the line at inbound passport control is a little lengthy.
Wheels up at 10:30am and reaching Atlanta at 5:55pm, travellers connecting from these Qantas flights will have between three and four hours to clear the border formalities, drop their bag for the onward leg, hit the lounge and take a shower ahead of that final hop.
Or, for those arriving at 2:10pm on QF17 from Sydney, step lively – AA2376 pushes back at 3:20pm, a mere 70 minutes later, to land in Atlanta at 10:45pm.
Kicking off in January 2015, Qantas’ new QF95 flights from Melbourne arrive too late to pair up with the new AA services, with AA connecting flights available from Los Angeles to Atlanta via Dallas/Fort Worth, or with US Airways via Phoenix.
There’s also AA1116 that’s ideal if you’d like to spend the better part of a day in Los Angeles before reaching Atlanta ahead of the business day, which departs at 12:15am and reaches Atlanta at 7:40am.
On the return, AA2471 lines up perfectly with QF12 and QF18 to Sydney, QF94 to Melbourne and QF16 to Brisbane, taking off at 8:55pm in Atlanta and landing at 8:35pm in LAX ahead of the Red Roo’s late night flights to Australia.
If you’re heading to Melbourne on QF96, you’ll want to book AA2437 instead, which takes to the skies at 12:50pm for a 2:30pm arrival at LAX – giving six hours to enjoy the new Qantas Los Angeles Business Lounge or even to take a quick trip into town.
There’s also a morning flight from Atlanta to Los Angeles, with AA365 leaving the gate at 7am to reach the Californian coast at 8:40am.
These new flights are all operated by a Boeing 737-800 aircraft, with Qantas Frequent Flyer members able to earn both points and status credits when flying onward from Los Angeles.
Also read: American Airlines launches Vancouver, Edmonton, San Antonio, Tampa flights from LAX
Follow Australian Business Traveller on Twitter: we're @AusBT
Chris is a a former contributor to Executive Traveller.
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
07 May 2012
Total posts 371
Chris, the article does not mention if QF going to code share on these flights. Can this be found out?
Virgin Australia - Velocity Rewards
21 Aug 2013
Total posts 138
The American 737-8's are SCHMICKO too, I can tell ya! Can't believe it took QF THIS LONG to get the next-gen - AA had them last year!
Hi Guest, join in the discussion on American Airlines to launch Los Angeles-Atlanta flights