A row between Qantas (QF, Sydney Kingsford Smith) and Perth International Airport is likely to delay the launch of a second direct route to Europe by at least another two years, Air Transport World has reported.
When the daily Perth-London route launched in March 2018, the flag carrier said that a direct connection with Paris would be its next priority. But an ongoing dispute with the Western Australia airport on fees and use of the terminal will have to be resolved before it can be introduced, Qantas CEO Alan Joyce stressed on September 18.
“Our dispute with Perth Airport is a perfect example of just how broken the system is,” Joyce said in a speech on airport charges in Australia, adding that 18 months of talks between the two sides “frankly went nowhere”.
The airport recently imposed a new fee structure, but Qantas argues that this has resulted in a steep fee rise and has so far refused to pay the full amount.
The issue went to the Supreme Court of Western Australia nine months ago but has yet to be heard by a judge, Joyce complained. A court date is now unlikely before next year, and the lead times needed for such a launch mean that Perth-Paris is unlikely before 2022, instead of an original plan to launch it in early 2020.
However, Perth Airport commented that it had reached pricing agreements with 24 of its 25 airline tenants. It said that while discussions continued with Qantas it “believes the action in the Supreme Court of Western Australia is the next best option for a timely and cost-effective resolution of this issue.”
