Despite mixed reports about exactly why Qantas has moved their Australia to London stopover point from Singapore to Dubai, the reality is that the airline will be moving a significant amount of business out of Singapore; however, Qantas Chief Executive Alan Joyce and senior Qantas executives at the airline have traveled to Singapore in a bid to reassure Singaporean officials that Qantas plans to maintain its presence there.

Qantas plans to re-schedule Southeast Asian flights to improve the number of connections by an estimated 25 per cent. The airline also said the shift of flights to Dubai could free-up travel options in Asia, as it will see 40% more seats available for travel to Asia.

“This unbelievably frees us up and I think it’s a huge step in fixing the Asian problem and we’ll see a big improvement in the economics of our Asian operations,” Mr Joyce said.