Qantas Adds Perth-Johannesburg Flights

How Qantas Plans to Fly A330s to LA, SFO
Qantas will fly Airbus A330-200s between Perth and Johannesburg from November. Photo: Qantas.

Qantas will fly non-stop from Perth to Johannesburg in South Africa, with a new thrice-weekly service launching in November 2022.

Operating on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays, QF65 will depart Perth at 3pm and arrive in Johannesburg after 11 hours and 15 minutes of flying at 8.15pm, local time. The return service QF66 will depart Johannesburg at 10pm on the same day, arriving in Perth at 1.55pm on the following day after 9 hours and 55 minutes in the air.

These flights will be operated by international-configured Airbus A330-200 aircraft.

Qantas already flies four times per week from Sydney to Johannesburg – a route it restarted in January – using Boeing 787s. This service will increase to daily from 30 October 2022, meaning Qantas will fly ten times per week in total to South Africa from November.

South African Airways previously flew daily between Perth and Johannesburg for decades, but cancelled this route in March 2020 at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. South African Airways, which was already in business rescue (a form of voluntary administration) before the pandemic, has since massively shrunk its fleet. It now only has two wide-body aircraft in active service, which are used exclusively for flights between Johannesburg, Lagos and Accra.

South African Airways is unlikely to return to Perth anytime soon – if ever – creating a good opportunity for Qantas to enter this lucrative route.

“There’s a big South African population that lives in Western Australia and this will be great for people travelling in both directions to see family and friends. It will also help support the economic ties between Australia and South Africa,” Qantas CEO Alan Joyce said.

Air Mauritius is resuming flights between Perth and Mauritius in November 2022, with onward connections available to/from South Africa. But the only other options for travel between Perth and Johannesburg are currently via Sydney, Singapore or the Middle East.

Qantas was reportedly planning to start seasonal Perth-Johannesburg flights in 2018, but backed out due to a dispute with Perth Airport at the time.

Direct Qantas flights between Perth and Johannesburg are now on sale from around $1,800 return in Economy. These fares are similar to those offered by Emirates, Air Mauritius and Qatar Airways for one-stop flights, but Singapore Airlines offers significantly cheaper airfares via Singapore.

In Business, Qantas airfares from Perth to Johannesburg are now on sale from around $7,800 return in Business. Air Mauritius and Singapore Airlines Business fares start from around $6,000 return, but may come with long layovers.

At the time of writing, Qantas has not yet released any Classic Flight Reward availability on the new route.

New Qantas Perth-Jakarta flights

Qantas also today announced the launch of direct Perth-Jakarta flights for the first time in late November 2022, with 3x weekly Boeing 737-800 services on Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays.

Flight QF53 will depart Perth at 7.05pm, arriving in the Indonesian capital at 10.35pm. The return QF54 will operate overnight, leaving Jakarta at 11.55pm and landing in Perth the following morning at 5.10am.

This route fills a gap left by the withdrawal of Garuda Indonesia services. Garuda has not resumed any of the routes it previously operated to Perth or Melbourne before the pandemic.

Both new Qantas routes from Perth Airport are being subsidised by the Western Australian government and Perth Airport.

 

Join the discussion on the Australian Frequent Flyer forum: New Qantas route – PER to JNB QF65/QF66

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From 1-Nov-2022
3x weekly
330-300

QF65 will depart Perth at noon and arrive in Johannesburg at 5.15pm and the return service, QF66, will depart Johannesburg at 7.20pm and arrive in Perth at 11.15am the next day.

Most interested as to what this means for QF's long term plans on moving over to T1 at PER, or indeed whether that's still on the cards or not.

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Going to need quite some diversion to stay ETOPS180 (assume that’s what the 330 has).

If it’s 240min then less diversion required (but slog into headwind a factor).

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Most interested as to what this means for QF's long term plans on moving over to T1 at PER, or indeed whether that's still on the cards or not.

Perth Airport still want Qantas to relocate and then to demolish T3/T4. As far as I know, they are largely arguing over funding/pricing etc

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A Qantas spokesman said; “Qantas is always looking at new routes and Perth-Johannesburg is one we’ve had our eye on for some time.

“There are still a some hurdles we need to clear, including coming to an agreement with Perth Airport, before we would be confident we could make this route a success.”

A Perth Airport spokesman said: “We are looking forward to the launch of the new Perth-Rome service this weekend and we are happy to continue discussions with Qantas about a potential Johannesburg service.”

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Have they sorted the QF vs PER dispute (trying to get the JNB flight to leave from the QF international wing of their terminal) with this particular flight? I do recall the PER CEO was trying to rebuild their 'international network', alongside Premier McGowan's allocated state incentives.

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Have they sorted the QF vs PER dispute (trying to get the JNB flight to leave from the QF international wing of their terminal) with this particular flight? I do recall the PER CEO was trying to rebuild their 'international network', alongside Premier McGowan's allocated state incentives.

From what I can recall, so far QF has been mainly on the losing side in the courts over the various disputes but appeals have been lodged.The move of terminals seems as far away as ever.

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Just found this article now, GT is 'expecting' the announcement that the upcoming PER-JNB service 'may likely' depart from QF's T3.

Slightly offtopic, GT's also banging on about a 2nd PER-LHR, which of course is unlikely.

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It's official.

From 1 November, Qantas will operate the only direct service from Perth to South Africa, operating three return flights per week on its Airbus A330 aircraft.

The flights will cut more than six hours from the fastest current travel time, with customers heading to Johannesburg from Perth currently having to fly on Qantas via Sydney, or via the Middle East.

With a large South African community in Perth, the flights are expected to be popular with people visiting family and friends as well as business and leisure travellers. The route will also offer convenient one-stop connections for people travelling to and from other Australian cities.

Qantas’ existing four flights per week from Sydney to Johannesburg on its Boeing 787 aircraft have had strong bookings since they recommenced in January this year and will increase to daily from 30 October.

PER-JNB fares start from $1,800 return.

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Both routes partially subsidised by the WA Government and Perth Airport under the 'Reconnecting WA' package. The WA equivalent of NSW/Queensland's Attracting Aviation Investment Fund (AAIF)

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Thought this way may have been an alternative route into South America, quite surprising there are no flights at all from South Africa to anywhere in South America looking at flight connections.

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