Qantas will for the first time fly direct between Hobart and Perth following the easing of border restrictions between Western Australia and Tasmania.
The new route will launch on Saturday 14 November 2020 with flights operating three days per week with a Boeing 737 aircraft. Flights will initially operate until 31 January 2021, adding more than 6000 seats between Hobart and Perth over the summer season. Qantas will look to add more flights beyond this eleven-week period if there is demand.
The direct flight will save travellers around four hours on a round trip, compared with flying via Melbourne.
The new route has been well-received by customers since fares went on sale on Friday night, with the airline now adding extra flights over Christmas in response to strong demand.
This is the fourth new route the Qantas Group has announced for Tasmania in recent weeks in response to demand – Brisbane-Hobart, Gold Coast-Hobart and Sydney-Launceston.
As a result of these additional flights, the Qantas Group plans to offer more than 315,000 seats between Tasmania and the mainland in December, representing more than 10 per cent of total published Qantas Group domestic capacity for the month.
Comments – to be attributed to Qantas Domestic & International CEO, Andrew David
“We know there’s huge pent up demand for air travel with Australians looking for new places to explore.
“Direct flights will make it easier for Western Australians to discover Tasmania and give locals more options to visit Perth. These flights will also help reunite family and friends between both states are months apart due to border closures.
“We’ll keep a close eye on demand and if it proves successful we will look to extend the service.
“These new flights are another win for Tasmanian tourism and will help more of our people get back to work.”