Qantas and Perth Airport have reached an agreement which will unlock a multi-billion-dollar wave of investment and deliver new international and domestic flights, giving a major boost to Australia’s tourism industry. As part of the 12-year agreement, Perth Airport will invest around $A3 billion ($3.25b) in new terminal facilities and a new parallel runway.
Perth Airport will also invest in upgrades to Terminals 3 and 4, the current home of Qantas domestic and international flights, to create additional capacity while the new terminals are built. The Terminal 3 and 4 upgrades will enable Qantas to add services and more destinations from Perth, including Auckland and Johannesburg from mid-2025, subject to meeting border agency requirements. Qantas has flown non-stop between Auckland and Perth before on the 7-hour 30min flight.
But the route is now flown only by Air New Zealand and Malaysian carrier Batik Air, which uses a narrow body Boeing Max plane. Qantas’s return would help push down prices and also provide options for one-stop flights to Europe as the airline flies to Rome and to London directly from Perth. Qantas has been adding capacity to existing transtasman routes and during the past eight months and has been scoping new routes between Australia and NZ as it adds to its fleet.
No decisions on restoring the Auckland service have been taken. Qantas and Perth Airport have also agreed on the need for and timing of the new parallel runway which is expected to be open i.
