Qantas warns London-Perth nonstop flights could be delayed even further

‘A new hard border will be introduced from Saturday 5 February, 2022,’ says government of Western Australia

Global reach: Qantas flight 9 prepares to leave Perth for London Heathrow before the coronavirus pandemic (Simon Calder)

After the premier of Western Australia announced an indefinite delay to reopening to arrivals from abroad and the rest of the nation, Qantas has warned its planned London-Perth nonstops are “under review”.

Currently the Australia airline has daily flights from Heathrow to Darwin, continuing to Sydney. They were planned to be routed via Perth from late March.

On Thursday evening the WA premier, Mark McGowan, announced the planned reopening on 5 February had been indefinitely postponed, saying the Omicron variant of Covid-19 “has changed everything”.

Opening before boosters had been fully rolled out across the state would be “reckless and irresponsible”, he said.

The premier told a press conference: “If we can hold back this current Omicron outbreak, we will be one of the only places in the world that can reach a high third dose rate before experiencing community transmission.

“I understand many people had planned around the date, and it’s important we now provide a pathway for people to enter under compassionate grounds.”

In response, Qantas issued a statement warning: “Timing to reinstate Qantas’ Perth-London route, which is currently operating via Darwin and was due to return to Western Australia in late March 2022, is under review.”

The 9,009-mile flight from London Heathrow to Perth was launched in March 2018 but dropped two years later as the coronavirus pandemic took hold.

Qantas had originally planned a restart before Christmas 2021, but that was put back last September.

The carrier also said it would cut planned domestic capacity by 10 per cent at least until 31 March 2022. After the cuts, there will be just 15 flights per week linking Perth with the other mainland capitals.

The government in Perth has published details of changes, saying: “A new hard border will be introduced from Saturday 5 February, 2022, to allow for more safe, compassionate travel into WA and the return of Western Australians.”

People from other Australia states and abroad will be allowed in only for reasons such as “funeral, palliative care or terminally ill visitation”.

Mr Gowan announced on Facebook on Friday that 89 per cent of Western Australians aged 12 and over have been double-jabbed, and 27 per cent of over-16s have received boosters.

He also reported four new Covid-19 cases “currently not linked directly to any previous cases”.