Mr Stoner said the agreement will include six non-stop services between DFW and Sydney per week.

“The NSW Government is working hard to ensure Sydney is a global destination that people want to visit, live, work, study and do business in,” Mr Stoner said

“Increasing airline services is a key recommendation of the Government’s Visitor Economy Action Plan, so we’re delighted this announcement is delivering on that commitment for NSW.

“Securing this A380 service for Sydney, in the face of strong efforts from other Australian cities, is a significant achievement for NSW.

“The US market is one of our top five key tourism markets. According to the latest International Visitor Survey results, last year almost 300,000 visitors from the United States contributed approximately $570 million into the NSW economy.

“Figures provided by Sydney Airport show that the A380 increased passenger capacity will deliver almost 13,700 additional visitors to Sydney every year, helping our goal of doubling overnight visitor expenditure by 2020.

“It is estimated the extra capacity will deliver approximately $25 million in additional visitor spend in NSW every year,” he said.

Qantas Chief Executive Officer, Alan Joyce, said the national carrier was pleased to work with the NSW Government in encouraging more visitors to the State.

“This new non-stop flight to Sydney will make it even easier for visitors to fly to New South Wales, and comes at a time when there is a lot of tourism interest in Australia within the United States,” said Mr Joyce.

Sydney Airport Chief Executive Officer, Kerrie Mather said: “Sydney Airport is delighted that Qantas will now serve the Dallas/Fort Worth – Sydney route directly in
both directions with an A380 aircraft. Mainland United States is one of our fastest growing markets for inbound visitor arrivals, growing 4.5% over the past 12 months and this capacity increase into and from one of North America’s largest hubs will see the route continue to grow.”

The new service is expected to commence at the end of September 2014.

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