Qantas makes major change to how passengers board domestic flights

Qantas passengers travelling domestically may notice new systems for boarding from Monday, as the airline begins a rollout of new “Australian first” procedures aimed at speeding up performance times.

The improved boarding systems will be implemented across four major domestic airports, starting with Brisbane Airport on June 3, followed by Perth on June 10, Melbourne on June 17, and finally Sydney on June 25.

The overhauled group boarding procedures will apply to all domestic routes departing Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth, operated by Boeing 737 and Airbus A330 aircraft.

While airlines have largely used systems such as boarding from the back to the front, or seating premium cabins and high-ranking frequent flyers first, Qantas’ new system will see passenger boarding passes assigned a number from one to six, which will determine when the passenger can board.

While where you’re sitting in the aircraft will affect your number allocation, cabin and frequent flyer status will still be a factor.

The new procedures, which follow months of trials conducted from mid-2023, mark the “most comprehensive change” to the airline’s boarding processes in more than a decade, according to Qantas’ domestic chief executive Markus Svensson.

“Group boarding is designed to minimise the time our customers spend waiting to board and allows them to get settled more quickly,” Svensson said.

“We know how important on time departure is to our customers, so this process is also about doing everything possible to ensure we depart on time.”

The rollout comes on the back of new airline performance data for April 2024, which saw Virgin Australia edge ahead of Qantas as the most punctual domestic carrier, with an 82.6 per cent on-time rate, compared to Qantas’ 79.1 per cent.