An influx of smaller long-haul planes will make Perth Airport Qantas’ second biggest international destination, the airline’s international chief told aviation heavyweights in Brisbane on Thursday.
Qantas international and freight chief executive Cam Wallace told about 450 airline executives from around the world, in the Queensland capital for the CAPA Airline Leader Summit, that new generation extra-long-range aircraft would be a game-changer for the airline and WA.
“Perth is going to emerge over time as our second-largest international destination,” he said.
Qantas International and Freight chief executive Cam Wallace speaks at the CAPA Airline Leader Summit in Brisbane.Credit: Glenn Campbell
“Whether it’s Africa, whether it’s Europe or Asia, we see great potential – both for Jetstar and Qantas – [for Perth] as a gateway into Australia, offering tremendous connectivity for our domestic network, but also giving us a geographic advantage.”
A $5 billion agreement between Qantas and Perth Airport will result in a new terminal and runway, at what Wallace said would become the airline’s “western hub”.
“We’ve got any number of different city pairs that the new aircraft can serve out of Perth, but also out of other ports that we can connect,” he said.
Wallace said planes in Qantas’ current fleet that were capable of long-haul routes were often too large, while appropriately sized aircraft did not have the range.
“The A321 can easily go from Perth to Auckland, can go Perth to Noumea, can go from Brisbane to Bangkok,” he said.
“There’s a large array of opportunities for new city pairs that we just wouldn’t be able to achieve with our current fleet.”
Earlier this year, Qantas introduced a direct route between Perth and Paris, the French capital.
“I was up in Toulouse [where Airbus is based] and I was really encouraged to see how energised the team from Airbus are about partnering with Qantas on this proposition,” Wallace said.
“They are really connected to a program they wanted to succeed, and they want to get the aircraft to us on time, and I think they’re going to be delighted when we start getting people from Sydney to London and Sydney to New York on a non-stop basis.”
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