Photo courtesy of Qantas

The cast and crew of the Emmy Award winning show, Modern Family will soon begin filming in Australia for an upcoming episode. The cast  will leave from Los Angeles next month (February 2014), but the producers are reportedly visiting Australia a month early to locate areas to shoot and to refine the storyline for the episode.

The popular ABC TV show will film in Australia for about two weeks for an episode in which the Modern Family clan takes a vacation down under.  Qantas Airlines, an Australia-based airline, is transporting the cast and crew of the show. According to a press release announcing the trip and the partnership between Twentieth Century Fox and Qantas Airlines, the airline experienced an increase in flights to New South Wales after being of assistance to the Ellen DeGeneres Show when that show filmed in Australia in 2013. The trip also aided in efforts to promote Australia as a destination of choice.

Modern family, created by Christopher Lloyd and Steven Levitan, stars Ed O’Neill, Sofia  Vergara, Julie Bowen, Ty Burrell, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Eric Stonestreet, Sarah Hyland, Nolan Gould, Ariel Winter, Rico Rodriguez, and Aubrey Anderson-Emmons. In the series, Jay Prichett (Ed O’Neill) is married to Gloria (Sofia Vergara) and the couple has a son between them and children from previous relationships. Vergara’s character is significantly younger than Ed O’Neill’s character. The comedy, features an ensemble cast and the relationships between a modern family.

Qantas provides a large number of flights between America and Australia, and the airline also invests in and promotes Australia as tourist destination.