Perth Airport not 'at war' with Qantas over direct London flights, CE says

Perth Airport's CE denies he is at war with Qantas over plans to run direct flights to Europe but says the airline needs to firm up its commitment to the service before any commercial agreement can be reached. Qantas wants the non-stop service to operate out of a domestic terminal, rather than the new international terminal, to make it easier for passengers with connecting flights. But the airport says that would require major upgrades to the domestic terminal at a cost of about $40m. Airport CE Kevin Brown said discussions with the airline were progressing, and no options had been ruled out. "In terms of some of the headlines we're 'at war with Qantas', we're not," Brown said. "We're in dialogue with Qantas in a discussion to look at a sensible outcome. There's a number of operational and commercial factors that play through in that arena." One of those factors was the lack of quarantine and Australian Border Force infrastructure at the domestic terminals. "To process international passengers requires many other bodies," Brown said. "We're still working with those bodies, as are Qantas, to find a way to effectively duplicate those services." Brown said current negotiations with Qantas were only around a single service from Perth to London, but he would like to see a commitment to additional services to other major European cities.<br/>