Qantas reroutes direct Perth to London flight, delays Sydney, Melbourne flights amid border restrictions
Christmas reunions could be off the cards for some West Australians, after Qantas announced it would delay introducing more flights between Perth and both Sydney and Melbourne due to WA’s border restrictions.
Limited flights currently operate on routes between Perth and both Sydney and Melbourne, and more flights will not be added until at least the beginning of February. In a statement, Qantas chief executive Alan Joyce said the changes followed talks with WA authorities.
"Based on our discussions with Western Australia we know their borders won't be open to New South Wales and Victoria until early next year, so we've sadly had to cancel the flying we had planned on those routes in the lead-up to Christmas," he said.Qantas said it would continue to conduct return flights between Perth and both Melbourne and Sydney five times a week to maintain "minimum connections" for those who are granted permission to travel into WA.
"At this stage, WA doesn't intend to open to international travel until sometime next year, so we'll unfortunately have to temporarily move our Perth-London service until at least April 2022," Mr Joyce said.
Qantas had flagged the possible change in late August, but confirmed the decision on Monday. Mr Joyce said the London flight would instead depart from Melbourne and stop in either Darwin or Singapore, depending on the outcome of conversations with Northern Territory authorities.
"We look forward to operating this flight via Perth again when circumstances allow," Mr Joyce said. Qantas said it was still on track to "gradually restart" international travel from December 18.
Mr Joyce said in August it would be a "terrible shame" if people could travel to London before they could travel to Perth –
a comment WA Premier Mark McGowan swiftly rejected at the time.
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