Qantas has announced plans to offer nonstop flights between Perth and Rome next year.
The seasonal Sydney-Perth-Rome route will operate thrice-weekly from June 22, 2022, using the carrier’s B787 Dreamliner aircraft.
As things stand it will be the only direct, nonstop route between Continental Europe and Australia, and it marks Qantas’ return to Italy after an 18-year absence.
The airline says that the service will cut more than three hours off the current fastest travel time between Australia and Rome.
The route will operate between June 22 and October 6 next year, with return fares starting from AS$1,785.
The inaugural services in both directions will also operate as Points Planes, where every seat on the aircraft is available to book as a reward flight – loyalty members must book by December 21 to take advantage of this.
The news follows Qantas’ announcement of a brand new route between Melbourne and Delhi last month, with flights launching on December 22.
Commenting on the news Qantas Group CEO Alan Joyce, said:
“We’ve seen amazing demand on our direct service from Perth to London and on our new services to Delhi from Melbourne and Sydney.
“These are exciting destinations and there’s strong evidence the pandemic is making nonstop flights between Australia and the rest of world even more desirable as we learn to live with the virus and its variants.
“Italy is the largest market for us in continental Europe for people visiting family and friends from Australia and we think customers will love flying direct to one of the world’s great cities to spend time with loved ones or enjoy Italy.
“After the restrictions of the past few years, it’s the ideal time to reinvigorate our international network and we’ll continue to look for new opportunities.”
“Australia’s global reputation as a friendly, safe and unique destination is already an enormous tourism drawcard and adding Rome to the Qantas network means visitors will experience the Spirit of Australia before they even arrive.”
On November 1 Qantas operated its first quarantine-free international passenger flights following almost 600 days of strict border restrictions.
