Despite Qantas’s much awaited launch of new flights between Perth and Johannesburg and Jakarta scheduled to commence on November 1 and November 30th respectively, the announcement has put quite some uncertainly about whether the launch will go ahead on time as scheduled.
The Australian flag carrier has flagged the unexcepted suspension of sales due to operational reasons as it works with the Australian Border Force (ABF) and other government departments to fulfill the customs and biosecurity requirements of the flights.
As Qantas currently operate all there international flights such as its current flights to London, Rome and Singapore currently out of Qantas’s own dedicated international wing of its dedicated terminal 3 and 4 domestic precinct it would appear Qantas must be encountering difficulties in securing the extra ABF staffing and resources that may well need to be diverted from the main international terminal to cater for these flights.
Little is currently known what Qantas intend to do if they can not secure the resourcing of the ABF and other government departments to facilitate these flights from there dedicated terminal in time for the inaugural flights.
One such possibility could be operating them from the main international terminal however with Qantas having closed its international lounge at the main terminal and moving all there international flight operations to the new precinct making the move back wouldn’t be ideal and would also affect the viability of seamless connections between domestic and international flights.
The other possibility is the delaying of the launch date which would be a big blow to Qantas’s prospects for expansion of the Perth international market.
AussieJetSetter will be sure to post any updates as more information on the current situation becomes available.
