LOS ANGELES–To celebrate the launch of the sixth annual G’Day USA Australia Week 2009, Qantas Airways is offering sale air fares starting from $380 (each way, based on round trip purchase) for travel to Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane from Los Angeles and San Francisco and from $480 each way from New York.

Celebrated in all three Qantas North American gateways - Los Angeles, New York and San Francisco as of this year - the popular festival highlights Australia’s vitality as a place for tourism, investment, trade and business.

“By offering our low fares for an extended travel period, we believe more Americans will have the chance to experience the many unique and rich experiences Australia has to offer,” said Wally R. Mariani, Qantas Airways senior executive vice president, The Americas and Pacific. “Through this fare initiative, we are also able to achieve one of the key objectives for G’Day USA, which is to raise awareness of Australia’s commercial and cultural profile among the American public,” he added.

Qantas sale fares are available for purchase only for a limited time. Ticketing must be completed within 72 hours of reservation and not later than January 13, 2009. Tickets are valid for travel between February 1 and September 21, 2009. Add on fares are permitted and other travel restrictions apply.

Qantas is the first airline to operate the airline’s new flagship aircraft - the A380 – on selected flights from Los Angeles to Melbourne and Sydney and currently offers five A380 flights per week between Los Angeles and Australia. To officially welcome San Francisco as the third U.S. city in the G’Day USA program, Qantas Airways is bringing the new A380 aircraft to San Francisco International Airport (SFO) from Sydney, Australia, on January 14, 2009.

The Qantas A380 is configured with 450 seats – 14 individual First Class suites, 72 in Business Class, 32 in the Premium Economy Class and 332 in Economy Class.

source: www.businesswire.com