The page does not attempt to advise conference attendees travelling to Canberra from Australia or New Zealand; for `locals' the sifting of options will be relatively easy. What is presented below is a collection of publically available information, mostly gleaned from the WWW in January '98. The reader is warned that there may well be errors and so facts should be checked before plans are finalized. Of course, we would be grateful to hear of any errors or omissions.
The first important observation is that Canberra does not (yet) have an international airport; most travellers clear customs and immigration at Sydney or Melbourne. We have focussed on Sydney as port of entry, but it is hoped the information will assist those who have reasons to arrive in Australia at Melbourne, Perth etc. It should be added that many tickets will allow entry through Sydney and departure via Melbourne; this may be particularly attractive for people wanting to explore the south east of the continent.
Air travel between Sydney and Canberra may incur an extra cost or not, depending on the international carrier. There are buses and trains that are easy to arrange or one could rent a car; in any of these cases, the travelling time is 3 to 4 hours.
There are just two airlines that you need to know about for travel within Australia; they are Ansett and Qantas. They both operate direct flights to Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide and Brisbane.
Although Qantas is Australia's principal overseas airline (with frequent flights to all continents), Ansett is also international operating to several Asian destinations. See below for information on partnerships.
Ansett has a number of strategic partnerships, including Air New Zealand, KLM, Malaysia Air, Singapore Airlines, and United. Moreover, it has code share arrangements between Sydney and Europe with KLM as illustrated below.
| Starting Point |
Flight Number |
Departure & Arrival |
Days of the week |
Intermediate Cities/flights |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Amsterdam | AN1868 | 2020-1810(+2) | m..tfs. | KLM KL837, SIN, Jakarta |
| Amsterdam | AN868 | 2010-0610(+2) | m....s. | KLM KL835, KL |
| Frankfurt | AN868 | 1540-0610(+2) | ...tfss | KLM KL1768, KL807 |
| Heathrow | AN868 | 1705-0610(+2) | m....s. | KLM KL1022, KL835, KL |
| Heathrow | AN1868 | 1705-1810(+2) | ...t... | KLM KL1022, KL837 |
Qantas is the Australian flag carrier. It has a very intimate relationship with British Airways and has code sharing with American, Canadian, SAS and USAir (see below). The following is some of the schedule information one can get from their website.
| Starting Point |
Flight Number |
Departure & Arrival |
Days of the week |
Intermediate Cities/flights |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bangkok | QF2 | 0805-1945 | mtwtfss | - |
| Bangkok | QF6 | 1535-0525(+1) | mt.t.s. | Singapore |
| Bangkok | QF16 | 0755-2200 | ..w.f.. | Melbourne |
| Bombay | QF124 | 2355-19**(+1) | mtwtfss | Singapore |
| Frankfurt | QF6 | 2240-0525(+2) | m.w.f.s | BKK,SIN |
| Frankfurt | QF6 | 2340-0525(+2) | .t.t.s. | Singapore |
| Hong Kong | QF28 | 2145-0825(+1) | mtwtfss | - |
| Jakarta | QF42 | 2140-0700(+1) | mtwtfss | - |
| Jo'burg | QF64 | 1910-1720(+1) | .t...s. | Perth |
| Jo'burg | QF64 | 2245-2050(+1) | ...t... | Perth |
| Jo'burg | QF24 | 1945-2050(+1) | m...... | Harare,Perth |
| London | QF2 | 1305-1945(+1) | mtwtfss | BKK |
| Los Angeles | QF8 | 1300-2040(+1) | mtwtfss | - |
| Los Angeles | QF12 | 2230-0605(+2) | mtwtfss | - |
| New York | QF3002 | 1730-0605(+2) | mt....s | LAX, QF12 |
| New York | QF3032 | 0800-2040(+1) | mtwtfs. | LAX, QF8 |
| Rome | QF16 | 1455-2200(+1) | .t.t... | BKK, MEL |
| SLC, Utah | DL1643 | 1000-2040(+2) | mtwtfss | LAX, QF8 |
| SLC, Utah | DL493 | 1845-0605(+2) | mtwtfss | LAX, QF12 |
| Singapore | QF6 | 2015-0525(+1) | m..t.s. | - |
| Singapore | QF124 | 0925-1900 | m..t.s. | - |
| Singapore | QF124 | 0955-1930 | .tw...s | - |
| Singapore | QF32 | - | - | K.L. |
| Singapore | QF42 | - | - | K.L. |
| Tokyo | QF22 | 2045-0705(+1) | mtwtfss | - |
| Vancouver | QF3054 | 2000-0630(+2) | mtwtfss | Honolulu, QF4 |
The national airline of New Zealand is worth considering, especially if you want to have a stopover in Aukland. It has a number of very useful partnerships, including: Ansett (Australia), British Midland, Malaysia Air, Singapore Airlines, and United.
American Airlines is n partnership with Qantas and has codeshare arrangements. See the Qantas schedule extracts for indicative flight times.
Alitalia flies into Sydney and Melbourne from Rome and has good connections in Europe. It also flies, on most days of the week, to Bangkok, Hong Kong, Jo'burg, Los Angeles and Tokyo. (These are all points that put you closer to Australia, if you are keen for a stopover.
Alitalia has partnerships with Continental, Finnair, British Midland, Canadian and AirFrance.
| Starting Point |
Flight Number |
Departure & Arrival |
Days of the week |
Intermediate Cities/flights |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rome | AZ798 | 1325-1845(+1) | ..w.fs. | Bangkok |
| Gatwick | AZ201 | 0720-1845(+1) | ..w.fs. | AZ798, Rome |
| Nice | AZ355 | 0810-1845(+1) | ..w.fs. | AZ798, Rome |
| Paris | AZ319 | 1000-1845(+1) | ..w.fs. | AZ798, Rome |
There are lots more flights to come, both for Qantas and the airlines that follow.