Brian Sumers writing for Skift knows exactly what tage flights are and if you want to impress your friends with aviation trivia, tell them about Qantas flights 11 and 12, operating the carrier’s daily route between New York and Los Angeles he says.

You can only buy them if you combine the legs with a nonstop to Australia , a trick that allows Qantas to sell one-stops, with a connection in L.A., to travelers going to and from New York.

The route was in the news last week, with the U.S. Department of Transportation fining Qantas as much as $125,000, because in 2015 and 2016 instead of flying only its own passengers between New York and L.A., it carried passengers with onward long-haul tickets on two partner airlines. Qantas argued those passengers could fly on its U.S. domestic route because they had bought international itineraries through Qantas and the partner flights carried Qantas flight numbers.

This is a minor matter. But the incident highlights what’s probably the most unusual U.S. domestic route. The United States, like most countries, bans foreign carriers from selling tickets to exclusively domestic passengers.

Why does the route exist?

New York is too far from Australia for a nonstop flight, and while Qantas could put its passengers on partner American Airlines, it would lose revenue. Plus, a few Qantas aircraft sit at U.S. West Coast airports all day, in between redeye flights, so it makes sense the airline flies one to New York in the morning, and then back at night, in time for the next journey to Australia.

Sadly for aviation nerds, this route may disappear next decade, as Qantas has challenged Boeing and Airbus to build a plane capable of reaching New York.

Are you surprised these Qantas flights remain? Send me an email [This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.] or tweet me [@briansumers] with your thoughts.

Source —Brian Sumers, Airline Business Reporter Skift  |  ||  April 05, 2018   |||