Qantas takes a leap with new flights Brisbane to Chicago and San Francisco direct

Dreamliner: The 787 flights from Brisbane to Chicago will used the same planes as the Perth-London route. Photo / Getty Images

Qantas will announce today two new routes from Brisbane direct to the United States.

The airline will launch direct services from Brisbane to San Francisco and Chicago, which will be the first direct flight to Chicago from any Australian city.

The flights will be serviced by Qantas's Boeing 787-9 Dreamliners, the same aircraft used for non-stop flights from Perth to London.

Qantas is waiting on full approval on a new business deal with American Airlines from the US Department of Transportation, which is expected to happen within weeks.

This announcement comes just six months after Air New Zealand landed its inaugural Auckland to Chicago flight. Currently Air NZ's longest service the Qantas route will be using the same 787 dreamliners on their proposed Brisbane flight.

Once it has the green light, Qantas is likely to start selling seats straight away, with the flights to begin early next year.

"The launch of 787 flights from Brisbane to Chicago and San Francisco would be a win for customers and tourism," Qantas chief executive Alan Joyce said.

"These flights would make it one stop from Chicago to Hamilton Island or San Francisco to Townsville."

Cloud Gate: Chicago is getting its first direct flight to Australia. Photo / Getty Images

The direct route to Chicago would allow Aussie travellers to take advantage of American Airline's connections to 143 destinations, with 500 flights operating daily.

Qantas already operates flights from Sydney and Melbourne to San Francisco.

Qantas operates daily flights to Los Angeles that connects onto New York, with four Dreamliners based in Brisbane.

"The new routes would pump more than $150 million into the Queensland economy over the next three years," Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said.

"As the world's largest economy, the United States offers enormous potential for inbound tourism to Queensland."