The Australian airline Qantas Airways launch new direct flights from Western Australia linking Perth with Johannesburg and Auckland which will operate three times per week.
The Perth-Johannesburg route will have three weekly flights operating on Tuesday, Friday and Sunday, and the Perth-Auckland route also will have three weekly flights operating on Monday, Wednesday and Saturday.
The airline confirmed that the first flight departed from Perth Airport to Johannesburg in South Africa and the second flight departed from Auckland to Perth on Sunday.
"Flight QF65 departed Perth Airport this afternoon bound for Johannesburg, opening a direct link for the national carrier between Western Australia and South Africa.
The departure comes after Perth welcomed QF112 from Auckland this morning, the first Qantas service connecting New Zealand with Western Australia," the airline said on Sunday.
According to the airline, the milestone reinforces the growth of Qantas' expanding international western hub, connecting three continents and adding more than 150,000 seats in and out of Perth each year, creating jobs to support the local Western Australia economy and boosting inbound tourism to the state.
Qantas acknowledged that these flights have been made possible by funding allocated from the Federal Government to Australian Border Force and the Department of Agriculture Fisheries and Forestry to deliver additional border services at airports. The funding enabled Perth Airport to invest in additional staffing, equipment and facilities that increase border and biosecurity capacity and in turn allow the airport to host more international flights.
The CEO of Qantas Airways has revealed that the response from travellers have been positive since they announced that were introducing direct flights to these major cities.
"Today marks a significant milestone for Perth as our direct service to Johannesburg takes off and we welcome the arrival of the first direct flight from Auckland.
"The response from customers since we announced these routes in May has been terrific. Today's inaugural flight to Johannesburg is almost full and we're seeing positive forward bookings, so we know there is strong appetite for direct travel between the West and South Africa, as well as Auckland.
"These routes unlock more options and greater choice for all Australians to connect to the world through growing network, including to popular cities like Cape Town through our partnership with Airlink in South Africa and for West Australians to New York via Auckland.
“We would like to thank Perth Airport, the Department of Agriculture Fisheries and Forestry, and Australian Border Force for working together to make these new flights possible,” said Cam Wallace, CEO of Qantas International on Sunday.