Qantas cutting domestic capacity in 2026 due to fuel costs

[Laptop Jockey]

I wonder whether Qantas should discontinue Sydney to Bengaluru and replace with Perth - Bengaluru.

Bangaluru is located west of Australia, and I think it would have better catchment and also faster turnaround rather than Sydney/Melbourne direct.

Potentially this should be the same for all Middle East/South Asia/Africa destinations from Perth instead of Sydney/Melbourne. Change at Perth for destinations west of Australia.

The issue is Indian routes are fairly price sensitive for the most part, and amply served by a multitude of carriers connecting via South East Asia. The only real edge Qantas has is that direct flight; forcing an equivalent connection in Perth and increase in total travel time just means the big Asian budget carriers like Air Asia and Scoot, as well as the full service carriers present a better deal, particularly for that market. That's always been a big part of the reason services to India from Australia were difficult to sustain, along with the difficulty of serving the multitude of cities within India from Australia as point to point, or relying on the poor domestic network, compared with a closer central hub like Singapore or KL.