Qantas flew the Los Angeles Rams to Melbourne on a charter A380 ahead of the NFL’s first regular season game in Australia, with the airline reporting a 50 per cent year-on-year rise in US bookings to Australia in the lead-up to the fixture.
Booking surge accompanies charter operation
Qantas also chartered the San Francisco 49ers to Melbourne the previous week, with both teams travelling on A380s from Los Angeles and San Francisco respectively. As Official Airline Partner of the NFL in Australia and New Zealand and of the 2026 NFL Melbourne Game, Qantas said bookings from the United States to Australia rose 50 per cent year-on-year in the fortnight leading into the game, while demand from New Zealand into Melbourne increased more than 30 per cent during game week. Travel into Melbourne from all markets rose more than 10 per cent over the same period.
Qantas Group chief brand and corporate affairs officer Danielle Keighery said the charters reflected months of planning between the airline and both clubs. “Our teams have spent months working with the clubs to make the flight part of the experience, from menus designed alongside team nutrition staff to bespoke Qantas pyjamas in each club’s colours,” Keighery said. “We are already seeing that excitement in our bookings, with numbers from the United States up 50 per cent in the lead-up to the game.”
Charters carried more than 2,000 meals
Each charter covered around 12,900 kilometres, with four pilots, 22 cabin crew and one travelling charter manager on board. Combined, the flights carried more than 20 tonnes of equipment and over 2,000 meals, with menus developed alongside each team’s nutrition staff to reflect typical player diets, including extra steak on sandwiches and double portions of cheeseburgers, other meats and sides. Qantas also produced limited-edition themed pyjamas in each team’s colours, distributed to charter passengers and surprised customers on select commercial services from Los Angeles and San Francisco.
Qantas operates up to 40 flights a week between Australia and the United States, including Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York via Auckland and Dallas. For advisors selling US inbound and sports travel product, the reported booking increases point to sustained demand around major sporting fixtures hosted in Australia.
