Qantas will fly a new direct service between Perth and Paris from July next year.
The long-rumoured new 787 route will operate four times per week during the peak European season before reducing to three times weekly from mid-August.
It follows the extraordinary success of its direct route from WA to Rome, which last year became one of the most successful services in Qantas’ history, with 98% of seats full.
Qantas will be the only airline in the world to fly direct between Australia and France, and the route will mark its latest ‘ultra-long-haul’ destination using its recently expanded 787 fleet.
The return will also mark the Flying Kangaroo’s first commercial flight to France in almost two decades.
Qantas Group CEO Vanessa Hudson said, “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.
“Some of the first customers on these flights will be Australian athletes heading to Paris to compete at the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
“We’re the only airline offering these direct flights rather than going through a mid-point because the key market we serve is Australia. Our in-flight service is designed with long-haul travel in mind.
“The schedule we’ve announced recently will add more than 75,000 seats between Australia and Europe each year, and we’ll be working with Tourism WA to help make the most of the opportunity to bring tourists here, knowing that direct flights are a big factor in people deciding where to travel.”
The Paris service will also offer customers another option for connecting to more than 70 destinations across the region, including Barcelona, Munich, Frankfurt and Athens, and 12 destinations within France through Qantas’ network of partners.
Like its Rome service, customers will be able to pick and choose which European country they depart and return from on one ticket, allowing them to mix and match between its three destinations.
Qantas now hopes to increase its international capacity to above 90 per cent of pre-COVID levels by the end of the year and return to 100 per cent by the middle of next.