Qantas said its inaugural return service from Perth to Auckland was scheduled to depart tomorrow.<\/p>\n
Tourism New Zealand regional director for Australia, Andrew Waddel, said the new route gave travellers more choice.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve seen a 17% year-on-year increase of Australian holiday arrivals into New Zealand,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
The airline said the flights were possible because of Federal Government funding to the Australian Border Force and the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry.<\/p>\n
The latter department looked after biosecurity and was Australia\u2019s counterpart to the Ministry for Primary Industries. <\/p>\n
Qantas said the funding enabled Perth Airport to invest in more staff and equipment to increase border and biosecurity capacity.<\/p>\n
That enhanced capacity in turn allowed for Perth to host more international flights, Qantas said.<\/p>\n
Ceremonies with people from Australia, New Zealand and South Africa marked the launch of the new routes. Photo \/ Matt Jelonek<\/p>\n
Today\u2019s inaugural flight to Johannesburg was almost full and the airline was seeing positive forward bookings, Qantas chief executive Cam Wallace said.<\/p>\n
He said that showed strong appetite for direct travel from Western Australia to Auckland and to South Africa.<\/p>\n
A 2021 census showed an estimated 60,000 Perth residents were born in New Zealand and about 38,000 in South Africa.<\/p>\n
The flight to Auckland could be a stepping stone for Australians wanting to travel to New York.<\/p>\n
Qantas competed with Air New Zealand flying direct from Auckland to New York, a journey taking about 16 hours.<\/p>\n
Wallace said the new Perth flights offered more choice to travellers, including to Cape Town through a partnership with Airlink in South Africa. <\/p>\n
Both flights were on an Airbus A330, a widebody twinjet with 27 business class seats and 224 in economy.<\/p>\n
The Auckland-Perth flight took about six hours and 45 minutes and the Johannesburg flight took about 11 hours and 15 minutes. <\/p>\n
The Western Australian Government said the Auckland route would deliver almost 40,000 extra inbound seats to the state annually.<\/p>\n
It said New Zealand was the state\u2019s third-largest international market, with 79,000 visitors in the year to June.<\/p>\n
The WA Government said with strong South African and New Zealand communities in the state, the flights would support family reunions, tourism, and business travel.<\/p>\n