Perth Airport lands new flights

Air travel in Western Australia is setting the kind of records the industry likes to report.

In October, 1,379,932 people flew into or departed from Perth Airport. And it’s about to get significantly busier, with more international airlines resuming flights or launching new services.

China Eastern Airlines is the latest to confirm its return, while Thai Airways will soon confirm plans for the resumption of flights to Perth.

Thai Airways says it expects to take delivery of 23 leased aircraft by the end of 2025, with the airline expected to come out of its court-supervised restructuring by late 2024.

The 23 aircraft consist of 11 Airbus A350-900s, one 787-9 and two A330-300 wide-body aircraft, and 12 narrow-body A321s.

Three A350-900s have been delivered with two more expected by year’s end, and it is that type of aircraft that is expected to be used for the Perth-Bangkok route.

The airline is also understood to be close to ordering 90 aircraft from Boeing and Airbus.

Vietnam Airlines launched its three-times-weekly Boeing 787-9 service to Ho Chi Minh City on December 7, following Vietjet’s A321 operation that started late in November.

Vietnam Airlines will operate into Perth on Monday, Thursday and Saturday arriving at 11.05pm, and will depart the following morning at 12.50am.

The airline’s 787-9s are configured for 28 business, 25 premium economy and 211 economy seats.

Singapore Airlines (SIA) boosted its flights to Perth on November 24 with a fourth service, which operates four times week.

Singapore Airlines regional vice-president South West Pacific, Louis Arul, said the increase was to cater to the strong demand in air travel and would ensure more seats and flight options.

“These changes provide more capacity and connectivity to SIA’s global network,” he said.

Air India hopes to return to its glory days with a mega order.

The fourth Perth service, which goes daily from March, is operated by SIA’s A350-900 medium-haul aircraft fitted with 40 lie-flat business class seats and 263 ergonomically designed economy class seats.

SQ213 will depart Singapore Changi Airport at 7.15am local time and arrive in Perth at 12.25pm. The return flight, SQ226, will depart at 1.40pm and lands at Changi at 19.10pm.

SIA will also replace the B787-10 aircraft currently operating on SQ223/ SQ214 with an A350-900 medium-haul aircraft, from March 31 2024.

The aircraft change means Perth will be served by two A350-900 and two 787-10 aircraft daily.

Jetstar in the west

Jetstar, Qantas’s low-cost subsidiary, is significantly expanding its network out of Perth in 2024 with direct flights to Singapore, Phuket, and Bangkok offering Western Australians more choice and low fares across South-East Asia.

As part of its WA expansion, Jetstar will open a new Perth pilot base for at least 60 pilots, and base four aircraft in the WA capital, including the newest aircraft in its fleet: the Airbus A321neo LR.

Basing pilots and aircraft in Perth will allow Jetstar to grow its domestic and international network, with new routes to be announced in coming months.

Jetstar’s investment in Perth has been facilitated by the flow of factory-fresh A320neo aircraft, freeing up existing aircraft for new routes.

Jetstar Group chief executive Stephanie Tully said the airline was making a huge investment in its Perth operations.

“Having pilots and aircraft based in the west gives us the ability to add hundreds of thousands more low-cost seats to new destinations across both our international and domestic network,” she said.

“These three new routes will open up low-fares travel right across South-East Asia for our west coast customers, including easy connections via Singapore onto Jetstar Asia’s extensive network to 13 destinations throughout Asia.”

More routes are planned with Jetstar taking delivery of longer ranged aircraft that make routes to India a possibility.

“We expect to see travel demand continue to grow as we add more flights, and we’re excited to share more details of our Perth network expansion soon,” Ms Tully teased.

Qantas Perth Airport to Europe is at capacity at

Jetstar and^’ needs s parent a^, parallel Qantas, runway announced Photo: Peta its Paris Anne flights North in late October; these will start in July in time for the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games and European summer.

The services follow the airline’s daily nonstop flight to London and seasonal Rome nonstop flight.

Qantas will operate to the French capital for the first time in nearly two decades with the new year-round route, cutting around three hours off the current fastest travel time from Perth to Paris.

From July 12, the 17-hour Perth-Paris flights will initially operate four days per week during the peak European summer with the airline’s Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft.

Services will move to three per week from mid-August 2024.

New Qantas Group CEO Vanessa Hudson said the airline was thrilled to put Paris back on the Qantas map with a direct link for Australians to the French capital for the first time.

“This route has been on our wish list for a while and we think customers will be as pleased,” she said.

The new flights will operate through Qantas’s existing terminal at Perth Airport (Terminal 3), which will allow seamless connections to other domestic destinations in Australia.

The Paris service will offer passengers another option for destinations connecting peak times^to across more than the region 70 , including . Barcelona, Munich, Frankfurt and Athens, and 12 destinations within France through Qantas’s network of partners.

A ‘circle fare’ allows Qantas customers to fly into Paris and return to Australia from London or Rome on the one ticket.

Bright outlook

There are several other fascinating possibilities on the horizon.

Look to India and Turkey to provide some exciting options, possibly from late next year.

In February, Air India launched its mission to return to its glory days with an order for 250 Airbus and 220 Boeing aircraft.

The order will rejuvenate the airline once known for its fabulous service and operational excellence.

The Tata Group took over Air India in 2022 and went on a shopping spree in February, ordering 220 Airbus single-aisle aircraft as well as 40 twin-aisle A350s.

Boeing wasn’t left out with Air India purchasing 190 singleaisle and 30 twin-aisle aircraft, including the 787 to be used on a Perth service.

The airline’s CEO, New Zealander Campbell Wilson, said the new airplanes would enable Air India to dramatically expand its network, both domestically and internationally.

“They will come with a completely new, world-class onboard product enabling passengers to travel in the highest levels of comfort and safety,” he said.

Air India was a key airline operating through Perth for many years through until the 1990s.

Another airline with massive expansion plans is Turkish Airlines, which is set to announce an order for 600 aircraft to facilitate replacement and growth plans. The airline’s fleet is set to grow to 810 aircraft by 2033.

With 340 destinations serviced with its 400-strong fleet, Turkish Airlines services more destinations than any other airline.

The infrastructure

All these additional flights and growth opportunities require an additional parallel runway at Perth Airport.

Perth Airport’s passenger record for October caps another record of four consecutive months where passenger movements were over the 1.3 million mark.

From July to October, the airport handled 5,316,106 passengers: 2.05 million intrastate, 1.89 million interstate, and 1.36 million international passengers.

The airport is now on track for 15 million passengers a year: another record.

The additional runway is required because the airport is at capacity for most of the peak periods during the week when passengers and fly-in, fly-out workers want to, or need to, travel.