Qantas Freight launched its first dedicated freighter service into Singapore on 3 April 2026, a twice-weekly Sydney-Shanghai-Singapore-Sydney rotation carrying more than 50 tonnes of cargo per flight on an Airbus A330 freighter.

The Friday and Sunday departures form one leg of a three-front expansion the carrier has executed within months: the new Changi lane, a 24,000-square-metre cargo terminal at Western Sydney International (WSI), and a ten-year extension of its Australia Post partnership — a commercial relationship dating back to November 1922.

What does the Singapore stop change for forwarders?

Igor Kwiatkowski, Qantas Freight Executive Manager, said: "Singapore is one of the world's major cargo hubs and will play an important role in connecting shipments between Australia, China and South-East Asia. The new stop gives freight forwarders greater routing options and flexibility, particularly for high-tech goods and e-commerce."

For shippers moving high-tech and e-commerce freight between Australia and Asia, the routing adds a third-leg option beyond direct Australia-China capacity, connecting three markets in a single rotation.

Lim Ching Kiat, Executive Vice President of Air Hub and Cargo Development at Changi Airport Group, said the timing was right given rising Asia-Pacific air cargo demand, adding the service would cement Changi's role as a critical node for trade between Australia, China, Europe and South-East Asia.

A new domestic hub at Western Sydney

At WSI (Nancy Bird Walton Airport), Qantas Freight has opened a 24,000-square-metre terminal expected to process more than 850 tonnes of freight per week, with 12 overnight arrivals from 10pm.

Domestic services connect Melbourne, Cairns, Adelaide, Brisbane, Gold Coast and Perth, with onward links to regional centres. Australia Post parcels were on the first departure, flight QF7340, which left WSI at 10.25pm for Brisbane on opening night. Qantas Freight expected to move more than 160,000 parcels through the facility in its first 24 hours.

The dedicated freighter fleet behind the operation:

• Two Airbus A330 freighters flying the international lanes
• Six A321 freighters on domestic and short-haul work
• Three additional A321Fs on order and incoming

That sits alongside priority belly capacity across more than 300 Qantas passenger aircraft, giving the freight division reach across more than 110 destinations in Australia and internationally.

Why the Australia Post deal is the quiet headline

The ten-year extension of the Qantas Freight–Australia Post partnership underwrites the domestic network those freighters and terminals serve. The two organisations have worked together since November 1922, when Qantas flew 106 letters on behalf of Australia Post on its inaugural commercial service from Charleville to Cloncurry in Queensland — 104 years of continuous partnership.

Under the new agreement, Qantas Freight will support delivery of over 75 million tonnes of parcels and cargo annually across Australia and overseas, with volumes expected to grow as e-commerce demand and next-day delivery expectations keep rising.

For competitors in the Australian express and domestic air freight market, the combination is significant: a locked-in anchor customer, a purpose-built terminal at a new airport, and a growing dedicated fleet all landing at once. For forwarders, the Singapore stop adds capacity on a lane where Asia-Pacific demand is trending upward, and WSI provides a second Sydney-area gateway as the airport ramps up.

With three A321Fs still to arrive and Australia Post volumes projected to climb, Qantas Freight's capacity footprint on Australia-Asia lanes and domestically looks set to expand further through 2026.