There’s something quietly telling about where Australians choose to fly when winter bites. This week, Qantas made its intentions unmistakably clear, confirming a substantial expansion of its Sydney–Sapporo service for the 2026/27 northern winter, a move that reads less like a gamble and more like a confident nod to passenger behaviour already written in the snow.
From next season, the airline will increase services from three flights a week to up to five, delivering a more than 50 per cent increase in capacity and adding 10,000 seats to the route. All told, nearly 35,000 seats will be available between Sydney and Sapporo, the capital of Hokkaido and Australia’s not-so-secret winter obsession.
QF – Boarding Pass in the snow
The expansion follows a breakout inaugural season. Barely halfway through operations, Qantas has already carried almost 10,000 passengers on the route, a solid result for a seasonal service that only launched in December 2025.
That performance mirrors a broader surge in Australian travel to Japan. Fresh figures from the Japan National Tourism Organisation show more than one million Australians visited Japan in 2025, up 15 per cent on the previous year’s record. December alone accounted for 121,300 arrivals, underlining just how tightly ski travel and school holidays now intersect.
Qantas International chief executive Cam Wallace says demand has exceeded expectations.
“Since launching flights from Sydney to Sapporo last month the response from customers has been incredibly strong. We’re only halfway through the current season and already we’ve carried almost 10,000 customers on the route and demand is high for the rest of the season,” Wallace said.
“Japan remains a key focus for Qantas in the Asia region. By adding more flights next season, it cements our dedication to strengthening ties between our two countries and gives Australian travellers more choice and seamless direct access to Hokkaido’s snow.”
Qantas – Ski Pass
Notably, Qantas remains the only airline operating a nonstop link between Sydney and Sapporo, a strategic advantage that removes the friction of domestic Japanese connections and underscores the carrier’s broader Asia-Pacific ambitions. Sapporo also marked the airline’s 100th international destination, a symbolic milestone with practical economic implications.
Return economy fares are currently available from $1,473 via qantas.com, positioning the route as premium-adjacent but still accessible, particularly for families and ski groups travelling en masse.
As Australian travellers continue to vote with their passports, Qantas’ message is clear: where demand leads, capacity follows. And for now, that trail leads straight to the powder fields of northern Japan.
by Sandra Jones – (c) 2026.
Read Time: 3 minutes.
About the Writer.
Sandra has spent a working lifetime quietly rescuing journeys, one itinerary, one anxious caller, one impossible connection at a time. Years in Australia’s finest travel agencies taught her the art of calm, how to find a flight in a fog of cancellations, how to soothe a traveller when luggage wanders, how to turn nine frantic days in Europe into something resembling sense. Qualified, seasoned, endlessly patient, she learned that good travel advice is part logistics, part listening.
But the storyteller in her was always waiting its turn. Writing offered a new map, a way to turn experience into reflection, detail into delight. At Global Travel Media, Sandra now writes the truths only insiders know: the mishaps, the laughter, the grace found between gates and goodbyes. She reminds us that travel, for all its fuss, is still one of life’s better ideas.
