Qantas looks set to bring Auckland and Johannesburg back onto the departures board at Perth, as it continues to focus on building up the WA capital as a ‘western gateway’ which will eventually include a new terminal and lounges.
Qantas ended its seasonal Perth-Auckland flights in January 2018, although airline executives – including Qantas Group CEO Vanessa Hudson and Qantas International CEO Cam Wallace – have recently talked up the route’s possible return.
Perth-Johannesburg has been an on-and-off affair which most recently flew in March 2023, in a confusing arrangement which saw many flights departing and arriving at different terminals due to capacity issues with border security and biosecurity screening at the international wing of Terminal 3.
But it appears that’s all in the past, with the AeroRoutes website flagging an “operational schedule” filed by Qantas ahead of flights taking off from 7 December 2025, which indicates tickets could go on sale in the coming days.
Approached by Executive Traveller, Qantas declined to comment; we’ll update this story should an official announcement land.
For now, here’s the listed timetable for both routes, which is of course subject to change.
- QF111 will depart Perth at 7pm, reaching Auckland at 4.45am the next morning
- QF112 will leave Auckland at 8.30am, returning to Perth at 11.30am
- QF65 is wheels-up from Perth at 1.30pm, arriving into Johannesburg at 6.45pm
- QF66 departs Johannesburg at 9.35pm, and is back in Perth at 1.30pm the follow day
Both routes will be flown three days a week by an Airbus A330 with lie-flat business class beds, with Qantas going up against South African Airlines and Air New Zealand respectively.
For the time being, it looks like Qantas will also continue its Sydney-Johannesburg A380 superjumbo flights – although those are being wound back to four times a week as of March 2026.
As previously reported, Qantas is set to close its Auckland lounges this month to accelerate construction of an all-new Qantas Auckland International Lounge.
The doors will close and the hoarding go up on 23 April 2025, with all loungeworthy Qantas passengers being directed to the Emirates lounge for the remainder of the year and into early 2026.
When the new Qantas Auckland lounge emerges from its transformative cocoon at the start of 2026, travellers can look forward to a single super-sized ‘premium lounge’ that will be lighter, brighter and full of greenery.
Qantas promises visitors to the lounge can look forward to “a new dining experience” featuring the best of NZ food and wine, along with a barista pulling coffee shots.
Source: https://www.executivetraveller.com/news/qantas-perth-auckland-johannesburg
