Summary
- Qantas has eliminated a Melbourne to Perth leg that was operated by a Boeing 787-9, converting the QF9 itinerary to a direct flight from Perth to London, the United Kingdom.
- As a result, there will be more than 5% fewer weekly seats between Melbourne and Perth.
- Still, Perth will maintain its three European gateways, namely London, Paris, and Rome for the time being.
Qantas passengers flying from Melbourne, Australia, to London, the United Kingdom, via Perth, Australia, will now have to board a connecting flight between Melbourne and Perth, where they will board a Boeing 787-9 to continue their journey to the British capital.
Cutting a domestic Boeing 787-9 flight
According to flight schedules on Flightradar24, on July 12, Qantas flight QF9 will become a direct itinerary between Perth Airport (PER) and London Heathrow Airport (LHR), eliminating the Melbourne Airport (MEL) to PER flight that has become the staple of QF9. The development was first spotted by Australia-based Executive Traveller.
Searching for the flight on Qantas‘ booking engine beyond July 12 showed that there are several options for passengers wishing to travel to LHR from MEL, including two itineraries that would connect via PER, namely flight QF773 and flight QF775.
Photo: Vincenzo Pace | Simple Flying
The former leaves MEL at 13:15 local time (UTC +10) and arrives at PER at 15:25 local time (UTC +8), while the latter was scheduled to depart MEL at 14:25 local time (UTC +10), landing at PER at 16:35 local time (UTC +8). Flight QF9 was scheduled to leave the capital of the state of Western Australia at 18:30 local time.
The airline had already temporarily suspended the QF9 services due to tensions in the Middle East, especially as Iran and Israel escalated their conflict, directly firing ordnances into each other’s territories in April. The flights were suspended on April 11 and resumed on April 29.
Related
Qantas Pauses Perth-London Service Due To Tensions Between Israel & Iran
Only its northbound service is affected.
Affecting capacity between Melbourne and Perth
The decision to cut the domestic itinerary between MEL and PER will affect the route’s capacity. According to data from the aviation analytics company Cirium, while Qantas had scheduled 54 weekly flights from MEL to PER in June, in July, there will be three fewer itineraries on the route.
As a result, the 5.6% weekly flight reduction will result in 708 fewer weekly seats and 1.9 million fewer available seat kilometers (ASK), or a reduction of 5.8% each. However, the schedule data showed that the Australian airline will still utilize an Airbus A330-200 on the route, keeping at least some of the widebody capacity between MEL and PER.
Photo: Harry Reid International Airport
Furthermore, Cirium data indicated that Qantas is still planning to fly a Boeing 787-9 from MEL to PER on a limited basis. Instead of operating flight QF9, the Boeing widebody will be operating the aforementioned itinerary QF773 on Thursdays only from August until June 2025, which is the latest data that is available for 2025.
Related
Qantas Resumes Non-Stop Flights Between Perth & London
Qantas rebooted its high-profile Perth – London flights on Monday, with Boeing 787 Dreamliners now back on the route every day.
Perth’s Europe-bound connectivity
Still, the changes to flight QF9 should not affect PER’s connectivity to Europe, including flights from the Western Australian city to three European destinations, namely Paris Charles De Gaulle International Airport (CDG), LHR, and Rome Leonardo da Vinci Fiumicino Airport (FCO).
Photo: Steve Worner | Shutterstock
With flights from PER to CDG beginning on July 12, the airline is scheduled to operate up to 13 weekly flights from PER to the three European airports, totaling over 3,000 weekly seats and 43.4 million weekly ASKs. The three European itineraries should remain on the airline’s schedule up until June 2025, possibly beyond, with the PER-FCO route ending in September and resuming in June 2025.
Related
Qantas 787 Dreamliner Rome Route Extended Into 2024
Yesterday Qantas resumed nonstop flights from Perth to Rome for the summer season and today announced the service will be returning in 2024.