Qantas will make a further investment in Perth Airport over the next 18 months as competition stiffens following the formal launch of Virgin Australia’s regional operations in the state in recent weeks.
The Qantas commitment expands on previously-announced enhancements to its Perth-based operations, with new measures including:
- Deploying an additional A330 aircraft for flights between Perth and the east coast ensuring all Perth-Sydney and Perth-Melbourne weekday services are operated by A330s. The new service is effective immediately and becomes the tenth to operate from Perth;
- Expanding selected flight arrivals and departures from Terminal 4 into Terminal 3 which is due to commence over the coming weeks;
- Constructing a new Qantas Club in Terminal 3;
- Deploying larger aircraft on key intra-Western Australia routes to meet demand for corporate customers in the mining and resources sector; and
- Introducing an international standard a la carte menu for business class customers on all flights from the east coast of Australia to Perth.
The additional measures bring to more than $100 million the amount of additional investment in Perth operations during the past four years.
Qantas Group CEO Alan Joyce said Qantas was committed to Western Australia for the long-term.
“In the next few weeks we will start our expansion into Terminal 3 and from late-2014 Qantas Domestic, Jetstar, QantasLink and some Network Aviation flights will operate from the same precinct. Sole access to these terminals will provide Qantas customers with a seamless airport experience.
“This follows recent investments to upgrade Terminal 4 with an expanded Qantas Club; improved security screening and faster, smarter check-in, free WiFi and a range of new dining and retail outlets to make the airport experience more enjoyable.”
The first flights to operate from Terminal 3 will be selected intra-WA and charter services followed by Jetstar services in the coming months. Qantas and QantasLink have increased flights significantly over the past few years, now operating over 280 return flights with 75,000 seats to regional Western Australia each week.
Joyce also announced Qantas and QantasLink would deploy larger aircraft to key routes including Learmonth and Karratha as well as additional services to Geraldton, providing two early morning departures to Perth.
“We are growing our intra-WA business this year by about 22 per cent and that is largely because of the resource company contracts we have secured,” he said.
“Our diverse operations and fleet of aircraft mean that we have the flexibility to put on larger aircraft and increase capacity depending on the market conditions and demand from our corporate customers.”
The Qantas Group has more than 30 aircraft operating out of Western Australia including a fleet of Airbus A330, Boeing 737, Boeing 717, Fokker 100 and Boeing 767 aircraft with new interiors.
