Airline services to Perth resuming after WA border opening

8 March 2022 David Eyre

Western Australia’s COVID-19 border closure was lifted at 12:01am on 3 March 2022, with the arrival of the first domestic flight, Qantas flight QF653 from Sydney, operated by Airbus A330-200 VH-EBF, landing at 12:05am, and the first international flight, Singapore Airlines flight SQ215 from Singapore, operated by Boeing 787-10, 9V-SCN, landing at 12:09am.

It should be pointed out that soem airlines have maintained international services to Perth during the border closure, including Qatar Airways, Emirates, Cathay Pacific, Malaysia Airlines, Singapore Airlines, Scoot and Air New Zealand.

In a Perth Airport media release, it was reported that:

“In the 12 months prior to Covid, we had added more than 500,000 new international seats to the Perth market and were on track to crack 15 million passengers in total. Instead, Covid hit, and we lost almost nine million passengers, with international numbers plummeting by 97 per cent.”

International service changes

Below is a summary of international airline service changes, based on announcements and airlines’ scheduling information.

AirAsia Indonesia

27 March 2022: Daily services to Denpasar (Bali), using Airbus A320:

• QZ534 arrives 1055 / QZ535 departs 1125
• QZ544 arrives 1745 / QZ545 departs 1815
• QZ536 arrives 1935 / QZ537 departs 2005

AirAsia X

No information on Kuala Lumpur services.

Air Mauritius

2 November 2022: Two times/week services to Mauritius, operated by Airbus A330-900NEO on Monday and Wednesday

Air New Zealand

• Operating weekly passenger services between Auckland and Perth, using Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner – NZ175 arrives Fridays at 1335 / NZ176 departs Saturdays at 1025.
• 4 April 2022: Increasing to 3 flights per week.
• 3 July 2022: Increasing to DAILY flights.

ANA

30 October 2022: Services to Tokyo-Narita reportedly planned to resume, using Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner.

Cathay Pacific

• 1, 5, 8, 9, 10, 12, 16, 23, 30 March 2022: Freight-only service from Hong Kong, operated by B777-300ER (bringing Rapid Antigen Test kits): CX2171 ETA 0755 / CX2170 ETD 0855

• 1 June 2022: CX171/170 passenger services from/to Hong Kong to resume with Airbus A350-900.

China Eastern

No information on services to Shanghai.

China Southern

No information on services to Guangzhou.

Citilink

No information on services to Bali (Denpasar).

Emirates

March – April 2022: continues 3 days per week from Dubai, using Boeing 777-300ER

• EK420 arrives on MON, WED, SAT / EK421 departs to Dubai TUE, THU, SUN

1 May 2022: EK420/421 becomes DAILY with the Boeing 777-300ER
17 June 2022: Services change from Boeing 777-300ER to Airbus A380

Garuda Indonesia

No information on flights to Bali or Jakarta

Jetstar Asia

11 – 26 March 2022: 2 flights per week to Singapore using Airbus A320 –

• 3K132 arrives 2130 TUE & FRI / 3K133 departs 2230 WED & SAT

27 March 2022 onwards: 4 flights per week to Singapore –

• 3K132 arrives 2310 WED, FRI, SAT, SUN / 3K133 departs 0005 THU, SAT, SUN, MON

Jetstar Australia

8 April 2022: Daily Bali services, using Airbus A320:

• JQ109 arrives 1530 / JQ110 departs 0730

Malaysia Airlines

27 March 2022: Kuala Lumpur services operating 5 times/week using Boeing 737-800:

• MH125/124 737-800 on TUE, THU, FRI, SAT, SUN MH125 arrives 1450 / MH124 departs 1550

Malindo

4 – 25 March 2022: Two services per week on MON, FRI from Kuala Lumpur using Boeing 737-800

27 March 2022: DAILY service from Kuala Lumpur

• OD155 arrives 0030 / OD156 departs 0120

Philippine Airlines

No information on the planned direct Manila – Perth service using Airbus A321NEO, which had been planned to commence in 2020, but was postponed due to COVID-19.

Qantas

• 27 March 2022: QF71/72 Perth – Singapore 5x weekly QF71 departs 1220 / QF72 arrives 2350
• 19 June 2022: QF9/10 Melbourne – Perth – London Heathrow restarts
• 11 July 2022: QF5/6 Sydney – Perth – Rome commences 3x weekly.
• 30 October 2022: QF71/72 Perth-Singapore increases to DAILY services QF71 departs 1220 / QF72 arrives 2350

Qatar Airways

27 March 2022: Switches to DAILY services and aircraft changed from Airbus A350-900/A350-1000 to Boeing 777-300ER.

Scoot

3 March 2022: DAILY services using Boeing 787-8 and 787-9 Dreamliners.

Singapore Airlines

3 March 2022: 17x flights a week from 3rd March

• 16, 23, 30 March 2022 and 6, 13 April 2022: Boeing 777-300ER operating SQ213/SQ226
• 27 March to 30 April 2022: SQ223/214 operated by Airbus A350-900 (not regional configuration).
• 28 March to 11 April 2022: SQ229/230 operates on Mondays only, with Boeing 787-10 Dreamliner.

South African Airways

Not expected to resume services between Perth and Johannesburg, due to the airline’s financial issues.

Thai Airways International

No information on services to Bangkok or Phuket.