Qantas leaves door open to long-term Darwin-London direct flights

Qantas has left the door open to keeping Darwin to London direct flights on as a long-term commitment after ruling out its Perth-London service in the short term.

THE Territory government is working with Qantas to make Melbourne-Darwin-London flights a long-term commitment after the carrier announced either Darwin or Singapore will be a hub for Melbourne-Darwin-London flights.

Perth, which has hosted the route since the Dreamliner service began, is unlikely to re-open its borders in line with the National Covid Plan.

Tourism and Hospitality Minister Natasha Fyles said the government wanted to keep the flights beyond April.

Qantas chief executive Alan Joyce has left the door open to using Darwin longer term.

“We want to go back to Perth-London. It was a good route for us and we’re only stopping in now because we can’t operate because the borders are going to remain closed until next year,” he said.

“But Darwin, we’ll give this a go.

“We see how it goes. If it generates good interest and good traffic, this could be an addition to what’s happening out of Perth.

“And it would be going through Darwin until at least April of next year.”

Qantas closer to securing Darwin to London direct flights as Perth ruled out

DARWIN is edging closer to direct flights to London, with Qantas set to detail an alternate route after announcing it has shelved the Perth-London service until April next year.

Qantas announced on Monday morning it is involved in detailed discussions with the Northern Territory Government and Darwin Airport about potential re-routing.

A final decision is expected within a fortnight.

Internationally, flights are still on track to gradually restart from December 18, 2021 when Australia is expected to have reached National Cabinet’s 80 per cent vaccine vaccination target.

The proposed Melbourne-Darwin-London service is dependent on managing domestic and international travel under the NT government’s Covid-19 recovery plan.

Qantas chief executive Alan Joyce said the pace of the national vaccine roll-out had raised hopes international borders will soon re-open.

“At this stage, WA doesn’t intend to open to international travel until sometime next year, so we’ll unfortunately have to temporarily move our Perth-London service until at least April 2022,” Mr Joyce said.

“Instead of operating from Melbourne to Perth and then on to London as it usually does, this flight will operate from Melbourne to London via either Darwin or Singapore, depending on conversations we’re having with the NT in the coming weeks.

“We look forward to operating this flight via Perth again when circumstances allow.

“We’re in regular discussions with all the states and territories, and will continue to make adjustments, including increasing flying as soon as border settings allow.”

Chief Minister Michael Gunner said re-routing flights from Darwin to London would be a significant boost to the Territory.

“We are Australia’s comeback capital and a direct Darwin-London flight would be a massive feat showcasing the Territory to the world,” Mr Gunner said.

“This is why I have directed the most senior public servants to get cracking on this, and as a priority work with the Darwin Airport and Qantas to make it happen.

“My number one focus is keeping Territorians safe, but we must plan for a time when overseas travel resumes so we can bounce back stronger than ever.”

Originally published as Qantas leaves door open to long-term Darwin-London direct flights