{"id":846122,"date":"2025-12-11T09:08:51","date_gmt":"2025-12-11T07:08:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=846122"},"modified":"2025-12-11T09:09:54","modified_gmt":"2025-12-11T07:09:54","slug":"new-international-flight-launches-in-south-africa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/lifestyle\/846122\/new-international-flight-launches-in-south-africa\/","title":{"rendered":"New international flight launches in South Africa"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Qantas has launched a new direct service that connects Johannesburg and Perth, Western Australia. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Flights QF65 and QF66 connect Johannesburg and Perth, with South African travellers heading to New Zealand also offered easier access following the launch of flights between Auckland and Perth. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Qantas said that the new route reinforces the growth of Qantas\u2019 expanding international western hub, connecting three continents and adding more than 150,000 seats. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The flights were also made possible by additional border services at airports, with Perth Airport investing in extra staffing, equipment, and facilities that increase border capacity. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

“The response from customers since we announced these routes in May has been terrific,\u201d said the CEO of Qantas International, Cam Wallace. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe inaugural flight to Johannesburg is almost full, and we’re seeing positive forward bookings, so we know there is a strong appetite for direct travel between the West and South Africa, as well as Auckland.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wallace said that Qantas\u2019 partnership with Airlink in South Africa will also help expand to other popular cities in South Africa, especially Cape Town. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

South Africa\u2019s Minister of Tourism, Patricia De Lille, said that the Johannesburg and Perth direct service helps connect South Africa\u2019s connectivity with Oceania. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

De Lille stated that the route will play a crucial role in growing inbound business events traffic, as the nation prepares for Meetings Africa 2026 in February and Africa\u2019s Travel Indaba in May.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

South Africa will also help global sporting events such as the ICC Men\u2019s Cricket World Cup in 2027, with South Africa and Australia already sharing a strong sporting bond. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Johannesburg to Perth will operate as QF66 on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Sundays, with an approximate flight time of 9 hours and 55 minutes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The flight will be operated by a Qantas A330, featuring 27 Business Class seats in a 1-2-1 configuration and 224 economy seats. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The flights will take approximately 9 hours and 55 minutes from Johannesburg to Perth, but the return trip will take 11 hours and 15 minutes. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Qantas is now in direct competition with South African Airways, which already operates a route between Johannesburg and Perth, having launched last year. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Australia is an emigration hotspot for South Africans, with over 200,000 people born in South Africa now living in Australia. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

New international flights are incoming\u00a0<\/h2>\n\n\n
\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

In addition to the recent launch of flights to Perth, three new direct flight routes are also being introduced for South African travellers to Spain, Mozambique, and Zanzibar.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Air Europa will operate the planned direct service between South Africa and Spain after receiving approval from Spain’s Directorate General of Civil Aviation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, the carrier has been granted the rights to fly three times a week between the two countries, with regulatory and operational processes underway. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Across Africa, Airlink is expanding its presence with the launch of a new twice-weekly service between Johannesburg and Nacala, scheduled to begin on 2 February 2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nacala, located in Mozambique\u2019s northeast, is considered an economically important port city. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Airlink is also preparing to launch a new leisure-focused link to Zanzibar in 2026, with the route set to be operated via its latest fleet addition, the  Embraer E195-E2.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Johannesburg\u2013Zanzibar flights are expected to start in June 2026, and tickets are now available for purchase.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Qantas has launched a new direct service that connects Johannesburg and Perth, Western Australia.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":95,"featured_media":846124,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_sma_x_autopost_status":"idle","_sma_x_autopost_error":"","_sma_x_post_id":"","_sma_x_attempts":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9876],"tags":[24029,15416,3581],"class_list":["post-846122","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-lifestyle","tag-air-europa","tag-airlink","tag-qantas"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/846122","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/95"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=846122"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/846122\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":846127,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/846122\/revisions\/846127"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/846124"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=846122"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=846122"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=846122"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}