Perth International Airport become theAustralia's new intercontinental hub ? There is every reason to believe so. That's the ambition expressed by Alan Joyce, CEO of Australia's national airline Qantas. The geographical location of PerthWhat might seem like a weakness is actually an asset, at least when it comes to air travel. The capital of the State of Western Australia is the world's most isolated metropolis. The city of over 2 million inhabitants is 2,100 km from the nearest Australian city, Adelaide. The distance by air from Perth to Melbourne (2,790 km) is actually greater than the distance between Perth and Bali (2,590 km)!
Perth International Airport, Australia's fourth-largest hub with 13 million passengers before the Covid crisis, has for decades been regarded as one of Australia's most important airports. a gateway for Asian carriers to Australia. There are several daily flights to Bangkok, Denpasar, Hong Kong, Kuala Lumpur and more. Singapore. In March, Philippine Airlines to reopen its Manila-Perth route. Then in October, All Nippon Airways to resume services from Tokyo-Narita.
But from now on, Perth is emerging as the gateway to the island-continent for European traffic. Qantas is planning to launch several non-stop routes to the capital of Western Australia. In 2018, Qantas inaugurated a daily service between London Heathrow and Perth.. That's 14,500 km for a non-stop flight of one duration 16:30. Last year, the airline launched a seasonal service between Rome Fiumicino and Perth, a flight time of just under 16 hours. The route, operating from June to October, is confirmed for this year.
Paris in your sights?
However, the next route could be to Paris CDG. On Perth's local radio station 6PR, the CEO of Qantas has indicated that he is in discussions with Air France about a possible Paris-Perth route. " We want to do more [in Perth]. We'd like to be able to serve Paris CDG and we are in talks with Air France and other European airlines about how we could do it. This year, we receive a new aircraft every month, and soon every three weeks. Some of these aircraft are single-aisle, but they can connect Perth to a large number of destinations in Asia. We would like to be able to expand our operations from Perth to Asia and make it a hub after Sydney." he explained in his interview.
In recent years, the CEO has also been talking about the possibility of serving FrankfurtThis could be Qantas' second European hub for so-called 'secondary' routes from Australia. These are routes which, unlike London, have less traffic with the country.
At the same time, the company is putting in place its "Sunrise" project which, from 2025, will allow non-stop flights by Airbus A350 from London and New York to the United States. Sydney.
