Qantas to start seasonal direct flights from Perth to Auckland to compete with Air New Zealand’s Dreamliner

QANTAS is to restart non-stop Perth to Auckland flights, as Air New Zealand launches a Dreamliner service on the same route.

Qantas will run a twice-weekly service between Perth and Auckland over summer. Picture: S

QANTAS customers will be able to fly non-stop from Perth to Auckland again this summer, with the airline announcing plans to reintroduce a twice-weekly seasonal service.

The non-stop service will run from December 5, 2014, until April 26, 2015, and will be operated by an Airbus A330 aircraft.

It follows the success of a seasonal service run by the Flying Kangaroo between the Western Australian capital and New Zealand’s largest city last summer.

“We’re pleased this service proved to be so popular for our Perth customers,” Qantas International chief executive Simon Hickey said.

“We’ve extended its run this year to meet demand with 84 flights and almost 20,000 seats over the five months.”

The twice-weekly flights will depart Perth at 8.30pm on Friday and Saturday and arrive in Auckland at 8.05am.

Return flights will leave Auckland at 10.30am on Saturday and Sunday and arrive in Perth at 1.30pm.

The Perth-Auckland flights will go head-to-head with Air New Zealand’s new Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner service between the two cities, which begins on October 15.

It will be the world’s first scheduled service using the stretched version of the Dreamliner.

It also follows Qantas’ decision to cut all regular scheduled international services from the Western Australian capital as part of moves to slash $2 billion in costs over three years.

Mr Hickey said the Perth-Auckland seasonal service was part of a strategy to become “more dynamic and flexible in response to market opportunities.”

“We’ve similarly announced seasonal services between Perth and Singapore to cater for the July school holidays, and we’ll look at other opportunities down the track,” he said.