Qantas (QF, Sydney Kingsford Smith) has confirmed it will proceed with the launch of nonstop Perth International-London Heathrow, United Kingdom flights in March 2018.
The 14,500 kilometre-long route will operate on-board one of Qantas's eight B787-9s, the first of which is provisionally scheduled to deliver from Boeing (BOE, Washington National) in October 2017.
The route's launch was thrown into doubt recently following revelations that Qantas and Perth Airport were at loggerheads over the airline's request to upgrade Terminal 3 (T3) to cater to both domestic and international flights. The facility only handles Qantas's domestic Australian flights at present.
However, following tripartite talks, Perth Airport said in a statement that the impasse has now been resolved with the Western Australian State Government set to commit AUD14 million (USD10.4 million) to the upgrade exercise.
In addition, Qantas has made an in-principal agreement to move all of their domestic and international services to an expanded Terminal 1 - "Airport Central" - by December 31, 2025.
“Our modelling shows that people from the East Coast, as well as South Australia, would fly domestically to Perth to connect to our non-stop London service," Qantas Group CEO Alan Joyce said. “We’ll be looking at the timing of our domestic flights through Perth to offer the best connections we can to our international flights, particularly given they will all be under the one roof."
