The Qantas Singapore crew base is becoming a bigger part of the airline’s international plan. Qantas will open a new cabin crew base in Singapore in September, starting with 120 crew in its first year. The airline expects that number to grow to as many as 650 over the next five years, adding more support at its largest international hub outside Australia.
This will also be Qantas’ fourth international cabin crew base, after London, Auckland, and Wellington. Singapore already plays a major role in the airline’s network, sitting behind only Sydney and Melbourne as Qantas’ third-largest hub. From there, the airline serves Australian cities such as Perth, Darwin, Sydney, Brisbane, and Melbourne, along with London.
A bigger Singapore role after the Jetstar Asia exit
The new base comes after the 2025 closure of Jetstar Asia, Qantas’ Singapore-based low-cost unit, a move that affected more than 500 employees in Singapore. FlightGlobal also reported, citing The Straits Times, that around 50 employees working with Australia-based Jetstar Airways are expected to be offered new roles with Qantas.
Qantas had already flagged this move in its half-year 2026 results, where it said it would re-establish a cabin crew base in Asia, to be opened in Singapore, to support its growing international network. That makes this more than a staffing change. It is part of a wider plan to place more people and more aircraft where Qantas sees steady demand.
More A380 flights between Singapore and Sydney
Qantas is also increasing seat capacity between Singapore and Sydney by adding another Airbus A380 service on the route. Once the change starts in December, 13 of the airline’s 14 weekly flights between the two cities will be operated by the A380.
The airline has linked that change to “ongoing retesting” of its A380 network, “to ensure optimal deployment of available fleet given evolving economic environment”. Qantas had already said in its half-year update that it was redeploying the A380 to Sydney-Singapore as it adjusted some U.S. flying and made better use of available aircraft.
This extra A380 capacity also follows the return of Qantas’ 10th and final A380 from long-term storage in 2025. The airline said that return would help drive growth in 2026, and Singapore is now one of the clearest examples of where that added capacity is going.
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