Qantas Flights to Palau Will Continue Into 2026

Qantas will continue flying direct from Australia to Palau until at least December 2026, with the airline announcing today that it will extend its service for an additional 12 months.

Palau is a small country in Micronesia that’s made up of over 500 islands. It’s particularly famous for its beaches and scuba diving.

Qantas has flown direct from Brisbane to Koror since December 2024, when it took over the weekly route from Nauru Airlines. Since then, visitor arrivals to Palau have increased by 113%, with 75% of visitors coming to Palau for the first time.

Dubbed the “Palau Paradise Express”, the Brisbane-Koror route covers 4,335km. That’s just less than the distance between Brisbane and Bali. The flight time is around six hours each way.

Qantas’ Brisbane-Koror schedule

Qantas uses Boeing 737-800s for the Brisbane-Koror flights, which operate outbound from Australia on Saturdays and back on Sundays. The timing makes this service perfect for a week-long holiday in Micronesia!

This is the schedule:

• QF165 Brisbane 10:20 – Koror 15:20 (Saturdays)
• QF166 Koror 08:30 – Brisbane 15:15 (Sundays)

As Qantas does not have a catering provider in Koror, note that there are no hot meals served on the return flight from Koror to Brisbane.

Qantas airfares to Palau

Qantas flights from Brisbane to Koror typically cost around $942 return in Economy, or only a little bit more from Sydney or Melbourne. Business fares from Brisbane to Koror start from $2,792 return.

The outbound airfares from Brisbane to Koror are a bit more expensive than the inbound fares. This is because of Australia’s $70 outbound passenger tax, as well as the USD100 (~AU$153.80) Pristine Paradise Environmental Fee that Palau’s government levies on arriving passengers.

You can also redeem Qantas Points to fly from Brisbane to Palau!

There are plenty of Classic Flight Reward seats available for 23,300 Qantas Points each way in Economy, or 68,400 points in Business Class, plus taxes & carrier charges.

Qantas took over the route from Nauru Airlines

Nauru Airlines first launched non-stop flights on this route in May 2024, with the support of the governments of Australia and Palau. Both governments have chipped in to subsidise the service which they hope will increase tourism and trade between the two nations.

Nauru Airlines was initially contracted to run these flights until the end of October 2024. Qantas then won a tender process to take over the route – initially until November 2025, but now until at least November 2026.

Separately, Nauru Airlines will continue to offer an “Island Hopper” service from Brisbane to Koror via Nauru, Tarawa, Majuro and Pohnpei.

Without the direct Brisbane-Koror services, getting from Australia to Palau is a bit of a complicated process. Most options require backtracking via somewhere in Asia such as Manila, Taipei, Hong Kong or Tokyo.

Qantas’ impressive Pacific Island network from Brisbane

With the addition of flights to Palau and the launch of Port Vila last year, Qantas now has quite an extensive network of flights from Brisbane to destinations in the Pacific.

These are Qantas’ routes from Brisbane to Trans-Tasman and Pacific destinations:

Qantas also serves Tonga, Fiji and Hawaii out of Sydney.