QANTAS is in discussions
with Perth Airport to
launch a four-times-aweek
service between Perth
and Johannesburg from
December to April, Michi
Messner, regional manager
for South Africa of Qantas
has confirmed.
Industry players see the
planned seasonal service as
a threat to the sustainability
of the daily year-round
service offered by SAA, which
has been serving the route
for 60 years.
In February, SAA cancelled
some flights on the JNBPER
route during February,
March, May and June due
to low market demand and
the requirement for aircraft
rotations on other routes
within the airline’s network.
“Non-stop flights on Qantas
will undoubtedly have an
impact on SAA’s service,”
says Wally Gaynor, md of
Club Travel, adding that there
have even been rumours that
the route may be cancelled
altogether.
Wally adds that even though
SAA gets feeder traffic on the
route from Virgin Australia,
with its own domestic
network, Qantas will be a
lot more difficult to compete
against.
However, agents are
upbeat about the potential
flights. “Qantas has multistop
tickets that offer
great value,” says Vicky
Steinhardt, product manager
of Pentravel. “At the moment,
Perth is not included in
these multi-stop tickets as
South Africans would have to
backtrack via Sydney to get
home,” she says.
The proposed service is
at an impasse over which
international terminal can
be used. However, Michi
says the airline is hopeful
that it can turn the proposal
into a reality. Perth Airport
wants Qantas to use T1,
the main international
terminal, whereas Qantas
wants to use the newly
upgraded T3 international
wing. The airline argues that
it wants passengers from
around Western Australia
and Australia to connect
with the proposed flight.
“Integrating our domestic and
international operations in
T3 has been very successful
so far and we are keen to
keep expanding this western
hub concept with new
destinations,” says Michi.
Qantas’s PER-JNB service,
flights QF65 and QF66, would
start on December 7 and
be operated by an Airbus
A330-200 aircraft, with 36
business-class suites and
199 economy seats.
QF positioned to supplant SAA on Perth route
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