Premier South African upgrade from Qantas and Australia’s best new hotels

• More flights to South Africa: Qantas and South African Airways are expanding their flights to Johannesburg.
• VietJet cancels Adelaide, Scoot adds flights to Perth and Melbourne.
• New hotels are opening in Brisbane, Hobart and Melbourne Airport.

Airlines continue to tinker with their Australian flight schedules and there is a series of hotel openings to pique traveler interest in this month’s roundup of travel news and tips.

Flights to South Africa are getting a boost

Both Qantas and South African Airways have or are in the process of scaling up their flights between Australia and Johannesburg. Qantas has already swapped the 236-seat Boeing 787-9 for the 485-seat Airbus A380-800 on its five-times-weekly return flights between Sydney and Johannesburg, offering much more capacity and a premium cabin option.

Meanwhile, South African Airways will increase its thrice-weekly flights between Perth and Johannesburg to four times a week from December 7 and five times a week from January 6. The airline says it is responding to the increased demand for flights. The South African Airways flight is an interesting service as it is the only Airbus A340 operated flight to Australia.

VietJet ‘optimizes’ Australian flights and drops Adelaide

VietJet is reworking its Ho Chin Minh – Perth – Adelaide – Ho Chi Minh rotation, dropping Adelaide just 12 months after starting flights there. Effective October 27, the airline says it will “optimize its flight schedules between Vietnam and Australia” and will operate four round trips weekly between Ho Chi Minh and Perth.

Adelaide Airport says the flights were popular, and the reason for dropping the city was not due to a lack of demand from South Australians, but rather the VietJet fleet having to reorganize its fleet. But in a classic case of you win some, you lose someChina Southern and Emirates recently announced they are returning to Adelaide.

Scoot expands flights to Perth and Melbourne

Singaporean low-cost carrier Scoot is also tinkering with their Australian flight schedules this summer. From December 6, the 13 weekly return flights between Singapore and Perth will increase to 14, doubling per day. Similarly, Scoot flights between Singapore and Melbourne will increase from 12 to 13 per week in December, before doubling in January. Scoot says the changes anticipate stronger demand.

The renovation of Air New Zealand’s business class has been postponed

Air New Zealand has postponed the introduction of its first refurbished Boeing 787-9 business class cabin from October to early 2025 amid supply chain issues. Although comfortable to sleep on, Air New Zealand’s current Dreamliner business class seat is considered one of the worst in the industry due to its lack of privacy, storage space and facing away from the windows.

The new seats, which will be installed on all 14 existing B787-9s, will be industry standard with a forward-facing 1-2-1 design and decent privacy. Unfortunately, there are no sliding doors unless you fork over the extra cash to book one of the four Business Premier Luxury suites at the front of the cabin. Air New Zealand will restart its on-again off-again (now on-again) Auckland-Hobart flights on October 27.

Opening date for Doubletree Hobart

Hobart’s newest hotel, DoubleTree by Hilton, will accept bookings from October 30. The new building, located at 179 Macquarie Street (between Barrack Street and Harrington Street), offers rooms from approximately AUD 260 per night and is within walking distance of Salamanca.

On business Hilton, the aging Brisbane hotel that reached its peak in the 1980s when the in-house Juliana’s Piano Bar was on point, has been the subject of rumors of a renovation freeze for much of the year. The company recently stopped taking bookings after September 30, citing commercial ‘trust reasons’. However, a check on Hilton’s booking portal shows that the hotel is now accepting reservations through 2025, putting an end to the closure chatter — at least for a while.

Brisbane Star Grand opens

In line with Brisbane, the Star Grand opened last month in the Queen’s Wharf precinct next to the river. The hotel’s 340 rooms include 60 suites ranging between 75 and 217 square meters, the largest of which are the Skyline Penthouse Suites, which span two floors and feature private guest retreats and separate staff entrances.

However, the plain old standard city view rooms, which range between AUD 450 and AUD 850 per night depending on demand, are comfortable enough for most people and offer access to the leisure terrace and Skyline bar and restaurant on the roof. In case you’re wondering, the penthouse suites start at around AUD 5,000 per night and include continental breakfast; omelettes are extra.

Accor opens new hotels at Melbourne Airport

Accor has opened a Novotel and Ibis at Melbourne Airport, the first new hotel on site since Parkroyal was built in 2000. The two new hotels, part of the same complex, are a few minutes’ walk past Terminal 4 towards Werribee. Accor is working hard on the ‘it’s not just an airport hotel’ theme, even though that’s pretty much exactly what it is.

But with several airlines scheduling arrivals and departures in Melbourne between midnight and dawn, having more places to crash nearby the night before isn’t a bad thing. DMARGE hasn’t stayed at either hotel yet, but the rooms are reportedly good, and the restaurants and bars are decent. There is also an indoor heated pool, gym and extensive co-working space.