This year, Qantas has stated that international flight service will resume in mid-December, but Perth has been left out.
The airline is already accepting reservations for flights to London, Vancouver, Singapore, and Los Angeles and Tokyo beginning December 18.
While most routes operate out of Melbourne and Sydney, there will be be a few that leave Brisbane.
Services will only be available if the travel ban is repealed on December 17 as anticipated.
Because of the rigorous COVID border procedures in Western Australia, Qantas stated last month that it would be replacing Perth as the carrier’s departure point for non-stop flights to London.
Qantas said at the time it was “investigating using Darwin as a transit point … as an alternative (or in addition) to its existing Perth hub given conservative border policies in WA”.
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“Discussions on this issue are continuing,” it said.
Premier Mark McGowan has previously said hard borders and lockdowns may still be used to combat COVID-19, even after Australia reaches its vaccination target.
“The prospect of flying overseas might feel a long way off, especially with New South Wales and Victoria in lockdown, but the current pace of the vaccine rollout means we should have a lot more freedom in a few months’ time. It’s obviously up to government exactly how and when our international borders re-open, but with Australia on track to meet the 80 per cent trigger agreed by National Cabinet by the end of the year, we need to plan ahead for what is a complex restart process. There’s a lot of work that needs to happen, including training for our people and carefully bringing aircraft back into service. We’re also working to integrate the IATA travel pass into our systems to help our customers prove their vaccine status and cross borders.”
Qantas Group CEO Alan Joyce
Mr Joyce has already stated that customers will need to be fully vaccinated to fly, but the airline has yet to implement a formal policy in this regard.