Qantas has announced that it will start nonstop services from Sydney and Melbourne to the northwest WA resource hub of Karratha from May.
Nonstop services from both Melbourne and Sydney will be operated once weekly, adding to the once weekly Brisbane-Karratha service the airline has operated since November 2007. The flights will be operated by Boeing 737-800s, with the Melbourne services starting on May 3 and Sydney from June 17.
The new services have been made possible by the opening last year of an extension to the runway at Karratha Airport, which is now 2280m long and capable of taking aircraft up to a Boeing 767-300. Skywest and Strategic Airlines have also indicated that they are examining nonstop services from northwest centres such as Karratha to the east coast to support the mining, gas and oil industries.
