WA premier promises Perth-London flights will return: Qantas boss

Qantas CEO Alan Joyce has revealed a private conversation between him and WA Premier Mark McGowan, in which the Premier promised that Perth-London flights could resume in 2022. The conversation is said to have occurred during a Telethon event last month, in which one of the auctioned prizes was a Qantas Perth-London flight. Joyce said he used the opportunity to press Premier McGowan on his plan to reopen his state, and allow Qantas to return to its iconic direct Perth-London route. Joyce said there was a “back up plan” in place for the winner of the auctioned ticket, in case WA’s border remained closed, which was to “fly people to Karratha ”, about 1,500km from Perth – a far stretch from 15,000km journey to London. The Qantas boss joked that Karratha was a great alternative, “because that’s the closest physically you can get to London [in WA] and there’s a good English pub there where you can be served a warm beer.” “So then I said to the Premier, ‘So what are we actually selling in the auction – a London ticket or a Karratha ticket?’ – and he said ‘you’re selling a London ticket, we’ll be open again’.”<br/>