Koror, Palau
Koror, Palau. Photo: Adobe Stock.

You’ll soon be able to fly Qantas direct from Australia to Palau, a small country in Micronesia that’s made up of over 500 islands. It’s particularly famous for its beaches and scuba diving.

Qantas will launch direct flights from Brisbane to Koror, Palau on 7 December 2024, taking over the weekly route from Nauru Airlines.

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 will use Boeing 737-800s for the Brisbane-Koror flights, which will 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 12:30 – Koror 17:30 (Saturdays)
  • QF166 Koror 09:00 – Brisbane 15:45 (Sundays)
Qantas will operate Boeing 737-800 flights to Norfolk Island until 30 June 2022
Qantas is flying the Boeing 737-800 to Koror. Photo: Qantas.

Qantas flights to Koror are now on sale

Qantas flights from Brisbane to Palau went on sale yesterday, with launch fares available from $899 return in Economy. There are also sale fares available from Sydney and Melbourne for $999 return. Business fares from Brisbane to Koror start from $2,792 return.

Although the Qantas website shows these flights as non-earning, you will earn Qantas Frequent Flyer points on these services. Qantas simply hasn’t updated its calculator yet.

Koror-Brisbane fares on the Qantas website
The Qantas website incorrectly shows the Koror-Brisbane flights as ineligible to earn Qantas points and status credits.

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$152.50) Pristine Paradise Environmental Fee that Palau’s government levies on arriving passengers.

Qantas airfare breakdown on a BNE-ROR-BNE ticket
Palau adds a $152.50 “Pristine Paradise Environmental Fee” to the cost of flights into the country. Screenshot from the Qantas website.

You can also now redeem Qantas points to fly from Brisbane to Palau! There are plenty of Classic Flight Reward seats available for 20,300 Qantas points each way in Economy, or 57,000 points in Business Class, plus taxes & carrier charges.

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Qantas takes over the route from Nauru Islands

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 has since won a tender process to take over the route until at least November 2025.

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

A Nauru Airlines Boeing 737
A Nauru Airlines Boeing 737. Photo: Nauru Airlines.

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 recent launch of Port Vila, Qantas will soon have 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:

Map of Qantas Pacific and trans-Tasman routes served from Brisbane Airport: BNE-NLK/AKL/WLG/CHC/ZQN/NOU/VLI/APW/HIR/POM/ROR
Qantas Pacific and trans-Tasman routes served from Brisbane Airport as of late 2024.

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

Last week, Qantas resumed direct flights from Brisbane to Manila as well.

Other changes to Qantas’ international network

At the same time as it announced the Brisbane-Palau route, Qantas also revealed a range of other upcoming changes to its international network. These include:

  • The Sydney-Seoul route will be cancelled from June 2025, with services handed over to Jetstar
  • Selected Sydney-Dallas/Fort Worth flights upgraded from Boeing 787-9s to Airbus A380s
  • Selected Brisbane-Los Angeles and Brisbane-Auckland flights upgraded from Airbus A330-200s to Boeing 787-9s
  • Melbourne-Dallas/Fort Worth to get a fourth weekly flight
  • Sydney-New York flights reduced from six to five times weekly
  • Darwin-Singapore to launch in March 2025 with Airbus A220s
  • Brisbane-Noumea flights to be operated by Embraer E190s, instead of the larger Boeing 737-800s
Qantas Airbus A380 taking off
Qantas will resume Airbus A380 flights to Dallas in 2025. Photo: Qantas.
The editor of Australian Frequent Flyer, Matt's passion for travel has taken him to over 90 countriesโ€ฆ with the help of frequent flyer points, of course!
Matt's favourite destinations (so far) are Germany, Brazil & Kazakhstan. His interests include aviation, economics & foreign languages, and he has a soft spot for good food and red wine.

You can connect with Matt by posting on the Australian Frequent Flyer community forum and tagging @AFF Editor.
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Looks like QF has picked up the Australian government funding for flights to Palau for the next year.

Source?

Au Govt 06 May 2024 New flight route between Australia and Palau

Australia and Palau are partnering together to expand connectivity in the Pacific with a new non-stop flight service between Brisbane, Australia and Koror, Palau.

The Palau Paradise Express, operated by Nauru Airlines, will be a direct flight between Australia and Palau and will help create new opportunities for regional tourism and trade. <snip>

Edit

<snip>
The first Palau Paradise Express flight departs in May.

Nauru Airlines will operate the flight until 31 October 2024. Eligible Australian, Pacific, and Asian airlines will be invited to participate in a limited tender to operate the route through October 2025.
<snip>

Not much of a win!
Suspect heavily subsidised by AU tax payer

Reply 1 Like

click to expand...

Source?

Au Govt 06 May 2024 New flight route between Australia and Palau

That was only a six month deal, with the new tender for a further 12 months.

So if this is correct QF will have it from Nov 24 until Oct 25.

Reply 2 Likes

Source?

Reply Like

click to expand...

Not much of a win!
Suspect heavily subsidised by AU tax payer

As the attachment states, itโ€™s actually part of the foreign aid budget.

Reply 2 Likes

Must be part of the efforts to increase Australian influence in the Pacific.

Reply 4 Likes

Must be part of the efforts to increase Australian influence in the Pacific.

Not before time I may add.

Reply 1 Like

Any thoughts on when flights will become bookable?

Reply Like

Announced by Qantas on facebook just now.

' A new route to commence between Brisbane and Palau in the Pacific in the coming months*'

Post automatically merged:

Announced by Qantas on facebook just now.

' A new route to commence between Brisbane and Palau in the Pacific in the coming months*'

Reply 1 Like

A new route to commence between Brisbane and Palau in the Pacific in the coming months*'

that is wonderful news! No way I can afford Nauru Airlines paradise express for family of 4.
But with QF points its possible.
- flights are still ๐˜š๐˜ถ๐˜ฃ๐˜ซ๐˜ฆ๐˜ค๐˜ต ๐˜ต๐˜ฐ ๐˜จ๐˜ฐ๐˜ท๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ๐˜ต ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ๐˜จ๐˜ถ๐˜ญ๐˜ข๐˜ต๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ๐˜บ ๐˜ข๐˜ฑ๐˜ฑ๐˜ณ๐˜ฐ๐˜ท๐˜ข๐˜ญ

it will add Palau to QF map for the first time, operating weekly flights from Brisbane to the Pacific Island with its 737 aircraft*.

The service, known as the โ€˜Palau Paradise Expressโ€™ will operate as part of a contract awarded to Qantas by the Federal Government and will help maintain strong trade and tourism links between Australia and Palau. Qantas customers will also have access to a new leisure destination on the airlineโ€™s network, with Palau renowned for its pristine waters, unique marine life and a haven for divers and hikers.

The route is expected to commence in the coming months and flights will go on sale in the next few weeks.

Reply Like

click to expand...

flights are still ๐˜š๐˜ถ๐˜ฃ๐˜ซ๐˜ฆ๐˜ค๐˜ต ๐˜ต๐˜ฐ ๐˜จ๐˜ฐ๐˜ท๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ๐˜ต ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ๐˜จ๐˜ถ๐˜ญ๐˜ข๐˜ต๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ๐˜บ ๐˜ข๐˜ฑ๐˜ฑ๐˜ณ๐˜ฐ๐˜ท๐˜ข๐˜ญ

The government awarded the tender to QF so Iโ€™d say regulatory approval is a given.

Reply 2 Likes