Qantas has fired another shot in the increasingly competitive battle for Australian travellers heading north, launching an Asia-wide airfare sale just as Japan, Indonesia and other regional favourites continue to attract Australians in extraordinary numbers.
The Qantas Asia Red Tail Sale, which ends at 11.59 pm AEST on Monday, 21 September 2026, covers selected flights to destinations including Bangkok, Singapore, Bengaluru and other Asian gateways. The airline says the discounted fares are available for selected routes and travel dates and are subject to availability.
Among the headline offers, Qantas is advertising Economy return fares from Sydney to Bangkok from $1,099, Premium Economy return fares from Sydney to Singapore from $3,029, and Business return fares from Sydney to Bengaluru from $5,999.
But arguably the most interesting part of the sale is Japan, where Australians’ enthusiasm for holidays has moved well beyond a passing flirtation.
Japan becomes an Australian travel powerhouse
Australian Bureau of Statistics figures show Australian residents made 992,550 short-term trips to Japan during 2025–26, making it Australia’s third-largest overseas destination behind Indonesia and New Zealand.
More strikingly, Australian travel to Japan was 105.2 per cent higher than in 2018–19, meaning volumes have more than doubled from their pre-pandemic level of 483,630 trips. Some 82 per cent of Australian trips to Japan were for holidays.
That is hardly a subtle shift in travel habits.
Japan has transformed from an important Asian destination into one of Australia’s tourism heavyweights, helped by skiing, food, culture, favourable air access and the seemingly irresistible lure of Tokyo.
Qantas is clearly keen to stay on that express train.
The Asia Red Tail Sale includes return Economy fares to Tokyo from $1,349 from Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane, while selected travel periods from Sydney and Melbourne stretch into Japan’s highly sought-after cherry blossom season in late March and early April. Premium Economy sale fares are also available to Tokyo and Singapore, while discounted Business fares extend across the sale destinations.
The airline’s seasonal nonstop Sydney–Sapporo service also returns for the northern winter, putting Hokkaido’s snowfields firmly within reach of Australian skiers.
The service is scheduled to operate from 7 December 2026 until 31 March 2027, with sale fares to Sapporo advertised from $1,349 return in Economy.
For Australia’s snow-starved skiers, that may prove considerably more tempting than another summer afternoon spent wondering whether the air-conditioner can cope.
Indonesia still wears the crown
Japan’s growth is impressive, but Indonesia remains Australia’s undisputed international favourite.
ABS data show Australian residents made 1,777,270 short-term trips to Indonesia during 2025–26, accounting for 14 per cent of all Australian overseas trips. New Zealand followed with 1,489,460 trips, with Japan third.
Overall, Australians made 12.71 million short-term overseas trips during 2025–26, up 3.7 per cent from the previous financial year and above pre-pandemic volumes. Holidays accounted for 60.8 per cent of those journeys.
Those figures help explain why airlines continue pouring capacity and promotional firepower into Asian markets.
This is no longer simply a recovery story. Australians have returned to international travel with enthusiasm, and some Asian destinations are now attracting substantially more Australian traffic than before COVID-19.
India adds another dimension
India adds another strategically important component to the Qantas sale.
Bengaluru appears prominently in the carrier’s current promotion, including the advertised Sydney–Bengaluru Business fare from $5,999 return.
India has also emerged as another fast-growing destination for Australians. ABS figures show 615,740 Australian resident trips to India in 2025–26, compared with 416,300 in 2018–19, a 47.9 per cent increase above pre-pandemic levels.
For Qantas, that growth gives Asia considerably more strategic depth than the traditional holiday markets of Bali, Bangkok and Singapore alone.
The airline can now pursue leisure travellers heading for Japan’s ski fields, Bali’s beaches and Thailand’s resorts while simultaneously competing for business, family and visiting-friends-and-relatives traffic into India and other major Asian markets.
Qantas reshapes its Japan interests
Another intriguing piece of the Japan story.
The Qantas Group signed a binding agreement with Japan Airlines on 4 August 2026 to divest its 33.32 per cent minority shareholding in Jetstar Japan through a share buyback by Jetstar Japan.
The transaction remains subject to regulatory approvals, with the ownership transition expected to be completed by June 2027. Qantas says the move will allow the Group to redirect capital investment towards Qantas and Jetstar domestic and international operations in Australia.
Importantly, the change should not be mistaken for Qantas retreating from the Australia–Japan market.
Qantas has said the Jetstar Japan changes will not affect Qantas Airways or Jetstar Airways international services between Australia and Japan, nor the airlines’ codeshare arrangements with Japan Airlines. Existing Jetstar Japan operations are also expected to continue normally during the transition.
That distinction matters.
On one hand, Qantas is withdrawing its capital from a Japanese domestic airline investment. On the other, it continues to sell and operate its own international services into a Japanese market where Australian demand has more than doubled compared with 2018–19.
Asia’s battle for the Australian traveller
The Asia Red Tail Sale therefore deserves to be viewed as more than the customary collection of discounted seats.
It arrives against a backdrop of Australian international travel exceeding pre-pandemic levels, Indonesia holding firmly to its position as the country’s favourite overseas destination, Japan recording spectacular growth and India becoming an increasingly important market.
For travel advisers, that mix creates opportunities well beyond airfare. Japan’s winter season, cherry blossoms, premium travel to Singapore, Indian itineraries and the perennial attraction of Southeast Asia all provide substantial scope for accommodation, touring, cruising and packaged travel sales.
And for Qantas, the objective is straightforward: put attractive fares into the market while Australians remain demonstrably willing to pack their passports and head for Asia.
With nearly one million Australian trips to Japan in a single financial year, however, Qantas may find that convincing Australians to go is the easy part.
The harder job could be making sure there are enough seats when they all decide to leave.
By: Sandra Jones – © 2026.
Read Time: 4 minutes.
Author Bio:
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.
