Qantas Bets Big On Perth Mega Hub For Airbus A350s (2024)

After being at loggerheads for the past few years, it seems Qantas and Perth Airport have kissed and made up. Today, Qantas announced it had reached a 12-year commercial agreement with Perth Airport that will turn the airport into a major international and domestic hub for Qantas and its low-fare subsidiary Jetstar at a cost of around AU$5 billion ($3.3b).

A Western Gateway to Australia

Key to the long-term agreement is that Perth Airport will invest around AU$3 billion ($2b) in new terminal facilities and a new parallel runway, which is expected to be operational in 2028. The airport works also include upgrading gates to accommodate ultra-long-haul aircraft, including the Qantas Project Sunrise Airbus A350s that will arrive in 2026.

Image: Airbus

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The new terminals and runway are part of an AU$5 billion investment program by Perth Airport, the city's largest ever private infrastructure development. The project will deliver two multi-story car parks, the airport's first hotel and major access roadworks, while Qantas will build a new engineering hangar in the Airport Central precinct.

Qantas and Jetstar will move all their services to a new terminal in the Airport Central precinct to turn Western Australia into a major domestic and international hub for the airlines. In effect, the Qantas Group will transform Perth into a gateway airport for ultra-long-haul flights to existing destinations, including London, Paris and Rome, with a host of other options available from or through Perth.

Image: Qantas

With a fleet of long-range Airbus A321XLRs on the horizon, the Perth hub will also open up seamless connections across the continent and beyond, including one-stop flights from Europe to New Zealand. This is the largest infrastructure deal in Qantas' history, allowing the group to significantly expand its services over the short, medium and long term.

Seamless connections from Perth

Qantas Group CEO Vanessa Hudson said the development will allow the airlines to bring hundreds of thousands more travelers to and through Western Australia (WA) each year and will make it easier for them to connect to more destinations in Australia seamlessly.

"Perth-London and Perth-Rome are two of the most popular flights on our international network, which gives us confidence in our strategy to ramp up WA flying over the next few years as we receive new aircraft and grow our fleet. The additional flying will see us create an estimated 700 new jobs in Western Australia across pilots, crew, engineering and airport staff."

Image: Qantas

Qantas is enjoying much success on the routes to London Heathrow and Rome, and the European connection will be boosted in July when Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner flights from Perth to Paris take off. By the time the new terminal opens in 2031, Qantas and Jetstar plan to have added 4.4 million sets to and from Perth annually, and Perth Airport will be the airline's second-biggest international gateway behind Sydney.

The new terminal will offer passengers a world-leading experience with seamless domestic and international transfer and the latest technology check-in and bag drop facilities. Qantas and the airport are developing plans for a multi-lounge precinct for international and domestic passengers with a new signature design and bespoke dining and wellness initiatives.

Image: Qantas

As the new terminal is built, the airport will invest in upgrades to Terminals 3 and 4, which currently house Qantas domestic and international flights. Jetstar will move its domestic services to Terminal 2 in September 2024, and these terminal transfers will open up more growth opportunities before the two airlines move into the Airport Central terminal.

The Terminal 3 and 4 upgrades will enable Qantas to add services and more destinations from Perth, including Auckland and Johannesburg from mid-2025, subject to meeting border agency requirements. As for Qantas and Perth airport being at loggerheads, the announcement ended with:

Have you flown on the nonstops from Perth to London or Rome? Let us know in the comments.