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Writer's pictureDeryk Neighbour

Qantas set to launch Perth-Johannesburg flights


EXCLUSIVE | Qantas plans to expand its international footprint in Perth with non-stop flights to Johannesburg expected to launch in December 2018. Internal airline schedules sighted by Australian Business Traveller but yet to be made public – and thus subject to change – indicate the direct flights would run four times per week from December 7 on an Airbus A330-200 jet. On Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays, flight QF65 would depart Perth at 12:45pm to reach South Africa approximately 11 hours later, in the early evening (local time). On the return journey, QF66 would depart Johannesburg at 10:25pm on the same calendar days, touching down in Perth at 2pm the following afternoon with a shorter flight time of 9hrs 35mins. Again, those details are subject to change but Qantas' intention seems clear. A spokesperson for Qantas offered the following guarded and carefully-parsed comment: "We’re always looking at new routes but we have nothing to announce at the moment." The move would see Qantas take on Star Alliance member and Virgin Australia partner South African Airways and its daily Perth-Johannesburg flight, which Qantas used to sell to its own passengers via a codeshare agreement before winding up that deal in May 2014. Qantas also runs Sydney-Johannesburg Boeing 747 flights six days each week as QF63 from Sydney and QF64 from Johannesburg, with plans to boost this to a daily service during July and August 2018 to cater to increased demand. Go flat out to Jo'burg It’s likely that business class passengers on Qantas' Perth-Johannesburg flights will be able to relax and unwind in Qantas’ new Business Suites (pictured below), which offer direct aisle access and convert into a fully-flat bed. 

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