Qantas to restart Perth flights to Auckland, Johannesburg

Qantas is bringing Auckland and Johannesburg back onto the departures board at Perth in December, as the airline continues to focus on building up the WA capital as a ‘western gateway’ which will eventually include a new terminal and lounges.

The inaugural Perth-Johannesburg flight QF65 takes off on 7 December 2025, with the Perth-Auckland (QF11) starting the following day on 8 December 2025.

The flights see Qantas going up against South African Airlines and Air New Zealand, respectively.

“We’re so excited to be launching two new international routes, unlocking more options and greater choice for all Australians to connect to the world through our growing network,” said Qantas International CEO Cam Wallace.

Both routes will see three flight per week on a Qantas A330 aircraft, which has 27 lie-flat business class seats and 224 economy recliners.

• Perth to Auckland flights will run on Monday, Wednesday and Saturday, with a flight time just shy of seven hours
• Perth-Johannesburg flights will run every Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday; those flights will last a bit over 11 hours

Settle into the Qantas A330 Business Suite for the 6hr eastbound hike to Auckland or the 11+hrwestbound trek to Jo'burg.

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.

In announcing both new routes today, Qantas noted the new flights were made possible by funding allocated from the Federal Government to Australian Border Force and the Department of Agriculture Fisheries and Forestry to deliver additional border services at airports.

“The funding will enable Perth Airport to invest in additional staffing, equipment and facilities that increase border and biosecurity capacity and in turn allow the airport to host more international flights.”

Inside the new Qantas terminal to be built at Perth's Airport Central precinct.

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 following day

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 has now closed its Auckland lounges to accelerate construction of an all-new Qantas Auckland International Lounge.

All loungeworthy Qantas passengers are being directed to the adjacent Emirates and Strata lounges for the remainder of the year and into early 2026.

Concept images of the new Qantas Auckland lounge.

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.