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Qantas is again rerouting its Perth–London 787-9 Dreamliner flights through Singapore due to fears of military escalation in the Middle East.
This is the second time this year that tensions in the region have forced the Flying Kangaroo to alter its QF9 service, which will operate as QF209 and refuel in Singapore. The return QF10 service will continue to operate nonstop, as winds are more favourable eastbound.
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Only the QF9 service is affected, with QF33/34 (Perth-Paris) and QF5/6 (Perth-Rome) both also continuing to fly non-stop; the QF1/2 Sydney-London service already operates via Singapore.
“We’re making adjustments to some of our flight paths due to the situation in parts of the Middle East as a precaution,” a Qantas spokesperson said.
“We’ll contact customers directly if there’s any change to their booking.”
Qantas only restarted the 17-hour Perth–London flight post-pandemic in May 2022, but it has long been considered one of the airline’s most successful.
The iconic trip was the first and is still the only, non-stop commercial flight between the UK and Australia.
It led to the launch of seasonal flights between WA and Rome, which at one point saw 98 per cent of seats full, as well as the return of non-stop flights between Perth and Paris after two decades.
The airline previously paused its non-stop Perth–London flights in April due to fears Iran and Israel could come to blows, with the same flight number, QF209, being used for Perth to London via Singapore between 12 and 28 April.
The QF33/34 service to Paris, meanwhile, is initially operating four times per week return – dropping to three from mid-August – using Qantas’ 787-9 Dreamliners, with the inaugural 17-hour 20-minute flight departing Perth aboard VH-ZNB at 2:41pm on Friday, 12 July.
The route will add 75,000 seats per year between Australia and Europe, said Qantas CEO Vanessa Hudson last month.
“There is a lot of excitement amongst our customers and crew that Qantas is returning to Paris and that it’s a non-stop flight between Perth and Paris,” she said.
“In recent years we have seen a significant increase in customers wanting to fly direct on long haul routes and avoiding stop overs wherever possible. Our direct flights from Perth to London and Rome have some of the highest customer satisfaction on our international network.
Qantas has been contacted for further comment.
Edward Davies
says:It would be shorter to re route via Colombo,but QF of course has no other presence there.