Qantas will be developing its operation at Perth International Airport (PER) in Western Australia as the carrier looks to open up new passenger markets and build its cargo network, according to the airline’s Head of International and Cargo division.
Speaking at the CAPA Airline Leader Summit Australia Pacific 2024 being held in Brisbane between September 11 to 13, 2024, Cam Wallace told attendees that the Australian national carrier sees Perth as offering an ideal facility to develop into the airline’s second most important international and cargo hub in the country.
Wallace set out the carrier’s objectives for the near future, which included the stabilization of airfares in the Australian market, fleet renewal, the launch of Project Sunrise, and lastly, the development of Perth as a key focus city for the company. He also said that growth at sister company Jetstar was continuing apace while Qantas’ international capacity had surpassed pre-COVID levels, indicating the carrier had fully recovered and was now looking positively to the future.
However, he also acknowledged that the airline had faced some difficulties in the past year and that it needed to rebuild consumer confidence and regain the trust of former loyal frequent flyers who had endured months of delays, cancellations, and other disruptions to Qantas services.
“Things like on-time performance, on-time arrival, completion rates, making sure that each and every day, we are delivering to what customers want is vital,” said Wallace.
“We’ve still got a long way to go, and we still, you know, you never really get to the destination with many customers’ needs, because they change all the time, but we’re really, really happy with the progress,” he added.
While Wallace conceded that the initial post-COVID pent-up demand for travel had worked its way through and had since receded, organic demand for Qantas services was on the rise once more, and the airline is reacting to that rise with strategic marketing campaigns and targeted marketing to take advantage of that desire to travel.
Wallace also added that the carrier is seeing strong growth in its premium cabins, particularly on its long-haul routes, and that it continues to evaluate how its onboard products are faring compared to the competition. The airline recently added direct services to Paris-CDG, returning to a city that it hadn’t served for almost 20 years.
In terms of fleet development, Wallace said that while the carrier was being affected by delays in the delivery of new aircraft, it was managing its expansion plans in line with those delays.
He pointed out that the airline has more than 200 new aircraft on order (including 25 Airbus A321XLRs, 24 A350-1000s, and a further A220-300 for regional operations) and was at the start of the largest fleet modernization plan in the airline’s history. Additionally, the company has already returned eight of its Airbus A380 superjumbos to scheduled services and has plans to return the last two to restore the whole fleet to flying duties. These, along with the new aircraft coming in, will allow the carrier to develop new markets and operate routes that its existing fleet is simply unable to, he added.
“The last two A380 aircraft will get reintegrated into our fleet in the next 18 months and the cabins are being refreshed. They are important aircraft for us, for constrained airports like Sydney, Los Angeles, and London-Heathrow, where you’ve either got a constrained airport or you have a curfew,” Wallace said.
The new aircraft will also offer Qantas the opportunity to widen its offering from Perth which is geographically isolated from the heavily populated southeastern regions of Australia and where air travel connectivity is vital for the local and regional economies to grow. The carrier is planning several more international routes offering more premium seats per flight to capitalize on the opportunity the Perth market presents.
According to Wallace, new routes from Perth could see direct flights starting to Auckland and destinations in India, while the carrier has also just announced the commencement of new direct flights from Brisbane to Bangkok.
“Over time, Perth will be our second largest international destination, whether it’s Africa, whether it’s Europe or Asia, we see great potential, both for Jetstar and for Qantas as a gateway into Australia,” Wallace concluded.
