I think this would be an absolute shame for Perth to miss out on the first direct route from Australia to Europe.
Let's get the message to Perth Airport that we want them to help make this happen. It can mean more jobs and money for WA's economy. An opinion shared by many including WA Premier Colin Barnett and Qantas CEO Alan Joyce.
I was born in London and living in Melbourne and would welcome a direct flight from Australia to London.
Should you feel the same please sign my petition:
I think part of the problem with a direct Perth-London flight is the sheer isolation of Perth. This means that in the event of an emergency, there are not enough suitable airports along the LON-PER route within 180 mins flying time of PER that a flight can divert to (remember, at 17 hours flying a plane can't simply push on to Adelaide for another 2.5 hours; PER-LON would not face the same problem).
This Civil Aviation safety directive (know as ETOPS) will change given time and technology, as this article shows http://australianaviation.com.au/2014/06/787s-330-min-etops-…
This is what is holding them back.
Wasn't there a direct East Coast to Europe direct to Turkey?
Which the airport says will actually cost $40mil purely for Qantas benefit, for infrastructure that will be obsolete in 6-8 years, and with no commitment from Qantas that they'll actually keep the route.
https://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/wa/a/33359734/premier-inte…
Qantas doesn't have a good track record for consistency of international flights out of Perth, so it is very wise for the airport to want some kind of certainty that they wont spend $40mil, fly the route for 6 months then scrap it if it's not as profitable as they thought.
Perth Airport can already handle the planes at their international airport no problems, the sticking point is that Qantas doesn't want its passengers to have to change terminals between domestic and international (like they already do in Brisbane and other ports). I think the airport and WA Government should be also shopping for another European carrier to take on the route and other similar ones. British Airways perhaps….
Because of distance which would be near limit of a Boeing 787, it will mean any such service, would be aimed at business class passengers mostly, with few economy fares, meaning few cheap seats. One stop will always be much cheaper.
Help Joyce?
Like the time he helped me by grounding the entire global fleet and leaving me stranded on the other side of the world?
Maybe grounding the fleet again will help his cause with Perth Airport?
He can suck it.