South African Airways counting down to Perth-Jo’burg restart

There’s a rising swell of excitement on both sides of the Indian Ocean ahead of South African Airways’ restart of non-stop flights between Perth and Johannesburg on April 28 – ending a year-long drought since Qantas’ exit from the route last March.

Jetting off three times a week, the 11-hour overnight flights rely on a long-range Airbus A340 jet with 38 lie-flat business class seats in a 2-2-2 layout, and 215 seats in economy.

• SA280 departs Johannesburg at 8:55pm on Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday, arriving into Perth the following day at 12:20pm
• SA281 see wheels up from Perth at 11:50pm every Monday, Wednesday and Saturday, touching down in Jo’burg at 4:45am the following day

That early morning arrival time is good news for travellers, meaning they can hit the ground running in Johannesburg or continue further into South Africa – perhaps to Cape Town, the winelands or a luxury safari lodge – that same day. 

Perth Airport’s Chief Commercial and Aviation Officer Kate Holsgrove says the west coast hub will continue working closely with the aim of rebuilding back to a daily service.

“The return of South African Airways’ services between Perth and Johannesburg also provides an alternative itinerary for those travelling to South America with flights also available to Sao Paulo, Brazil from either Johannesburg or Cape Town with South African Airways,” adds Holsgrove.

Business class flatbeds in a 2-2-2 layout on board SAA's Airbus A340.

Executive Traveller understands South African Airways also plans to restart flights to London and Frankfurt soon after as more newly-leased long-range jets arrive, alongside a possible Airbus A350.

The airline also hopes to re-engage Perth-based members of its SAA Voyager frequent flyer program, especially as Voyager members can now earn Voyager Miles and Gold status through the HSBC Star Alliance Credit Card.

Prior to the departure of SAA’s Perth-Johannesburg flights, business class passengers plus those holding Star Alliance Gold status will have access to the Air New Zealand or Singapore Airlines lounges, depending on the flight schedule.

Also read: Here’s your 2024 fast track to Star Alliance Gold status

Business class flatbeds in a 2-2-2 layout on board SAA's Airbus A340.

Qantas has long been jostling to add Perth-Jo’burg to its network, but managed only a short-lived service from November 2022 to March 2023 citing complications with “border security and biosecurity screening requirements” at a specially-built international wing of Perth Terminal 3, which has become the airline’s WA hub rather than the primary T1 international terminal.

(Indeed, in early 2018 the airline was planning Perth-Johannesburg flights four times a week on an Airbus A330 jet from November 2018, but the airport’s insistence in using T1 rather than T3 turned out to be a deal-breaker for Qantas management.)

However, with Perth-Paris flights taking off from T3 in July 2024 and indications of a rapprochement under new leadership at Qantas and Perth Airport, the red tail of Qantas could once again be making the 11 hour trek across the Indian Ocean.

Speaking at a panel discussion held at South x Southwest Sydney in late October, Qantas International CEO Cam Wallace noted the airline “always has five or six different city pairs under what we call ‘deep observation’ – looking at passenger flows (and) looking at yields.”

At the time of writing, Qantas has upgraded its Sydney-Johannesburg route from a Boeing 787 to an Airbus A380 from late September 2024, although the flights will no longer run on a daily basis.