Qantas has announced that it will reintroduce its route between Johannesburg and Perth, Australia starting in December 2025.
The Australian airline stated that the flights will provide South Africans with a new direct flight path to Perth.
From there, travellers can make easy connections to other Australian cities such as Adelaide, Brisbane, and Melbourne via the Qantas flight network.
“We’re so excited to be launching a brand-new route, unlocking more travel options for South Africans looking to explore Australia, reconnect with family and friends, or discover somewhere new,” said Qantas International CEO Cam Wallace.
“By connecting Johannesburg directly with Perth, we’re providing easier access to Western Australia as well as seamless connections to key cities across our Australian domestic network, including Brisbane, Melbourne and Adelaide.”
Furthermore, the airline is providing a new one-stop option to New Zealand, with flights arriving in Perth before continuing to Auckland.
Qantas has operated flights between South Africa and Australia for 73 years, dating back all the way to 1952.
In addition to the new Joburg-Perth route, the company has acquired a new Airbus A380, greatly improving its flight availability for its Joburg-Sydney service.
The flight to Sydney, which takes approximately 14 hours, has doubled its seat capacity and re-introduced a first-class cabin option thanks to the addition of the new Airbus model.
All of these options means Qantas will now offer daily flights between the Mzansi and the Land Down Under, greatly improving choice and flexibility for travellers.
Prices are already available now on the Qantas website, with the inaugural Joburg-Perth service to take off on 7 December 2025.
The Perth flight will be designated as “QF66,” operating on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Sundays with an approximate duration of 9 hours and 55 minutes.
The service uses a Qantas A330 aeroplane, which features 27 business-class suites in a 1-2-1 configuration.
Each suite offers direct aisle access and a seat that can convert into a lie-flat bed. The plane also provides seating for 224 economy passengers.
However, these seating arrangements are still pending government and regulatory approval and may change by the time the route is launched.
Bad news for SAA
The new Qantas service is expected to deal a blow to South African Airways (SAA), which launched its own path between Joburg and Perth in April 2024.
The route forms part of SAA’s planned international expansion following its relaunch in 2021 after years of financial difficulties that plunged it into voluntary business rescue.
Earlier this year, the air carrier announced that it would re-open flights between South Africa and Tanzania, with planes moving between Joburg and Tanzania’s capital of Dar es Salaam.
It has also expanded access to other African destinations, including Nigeria, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Ghana.
Outside of Africa, SAA currently operates a single trans-continental flight between Johannesburg and São Paulo, Brazil.
The company also stated that it plans to re-establish its connection to Europe by March 2028, with new flights to Frankfurt and Munich in Germany, and London in the United Kingdom.
On top of this, the state-owned entity wants to launch new routes to cities on the eastern coast of the United States.
It’s worth noting that many of these routes already have international carriers, creating further competition for the recovering airline.
The German operator Lufthansa, for example, expanded its service between Germany and South Africa with a new long-haul flight from Joburg to Munich in September last year.
London is an even more popular route, with Virgin Atlantic, British Airways, and Norse Atlantic Airways all flying from the UK to the tip of Africa.
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