Qantas is to launch non-stop flights from Perth to Paris next summer with services starting in time for the 2024 Olympics in the French capital.
The Australian airline will launch the year-round flights from 12 July when they will initially operate four times weekly before dropping down to three per week from mid-August. Flights will take around 17 hours using Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft.
Qantas already operates non-stop from Perth to London Heathrow and Rome, as well as offering a Sydney-Heathrow service which stops in Singapore.
Starting the Perth-Paris route will add another 75,000 seats per year between Europe and Australia to Qantas’ capacity.
New Qantas Group CEO Vanessa Hudson said: “This route has been on our wish list for a while and we think customers will be as pleased as we are to see it go on sale.
“Our direct flights to London and Rome have been hugely popular and Paris is the next most-requested destination, so we know the demand for this service will be strong as well.”
Qantas is expanding its long-haul services following the arrival of new aircraft this year. The company added that international capacity is set to exceed 90 per cent of 2019 levels by the end of 2023 and recover fully by the middle of 2024.