Qantas has announced that it will launch a brand-new international route from Melbourne to Delhi from December 22, 2021, connecting Victoria to the Indian capital on a Qantas-operated flight for the first time in the airline’s history.

The new Melbourne-Delhi flight will operate four times a week. Same day connections will also be available from Brisbane, Sydney and Canberra. Flights from Melbourne to Delhi will initially operate via Adelaide, while flights from Delhi to Melbourne will operate nonstop.

This follows the recent announcement of flights from Sydney to Delhi, which start next month. The airline states that when the Sydney to Delhi route went on sale, Qantas saw the “fastest booking surge for flights leaving Australia” since the airline announced its international restart plans in August.