Qantas to restart Perth to Auckland flights

From later this year, Qantas will begin flying between Perth and Auckland, in direct competition with Air New Zealand. Qantas has also added new flights from Perth to Johannesburg, South Africa.

A Qantas A330 that will operate the Perth to Auckland route | Photo: Vismay Bhadra

Qantas will begin flying the new routes from December 2025, subject to government and regulatory approval, and are available to book now, giving kiwis a one-stop option to fly to London, Rome, Paris or Johannesburg via Western Australia. The route will also link Perth residents to Qantas’ Auckland to New York route that the airline began back in June 2023.

The inaugural Auckland to Perth service is scheduled to take off December 7, and will operate three times a week as QF112 on Tuesdays, Fridays and Sundays. The return flight, QF111, will take off on December 8, operating on Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays.

The flight time is about eight hours to Perth and just under seven hours when flying to Auckland. The flights will operate using a Qantas Airbus A330-200.

Air New Zealand currently operates the route to Perth daily. Qantas also previously flew route up until 2018 when they cut the route.

“We’re so excited to be launching two new international routes, unlocking more options and greater choice for all Australians to connect to the world through our growing network," Qantas International chief executive Cam Wallace said.

Qantas says these flights have been made possible by funding allocated from the Australian Federal Government to Australian Border Force and the Department of Agriculture Fisheries and Forestry to deliver additional border services at airports. Enabling Perth Airport to invest in additional staffing, equipment and facilities that increase border and biosecurity capacity and in turn allow the airport to host more international flights.