Perth-Joburg and Perth-Auckland return from 30 March 2026

[evanb]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1911664754139238507

https://twitter.com/x/status/1911673669698597254

 

[moa999]

Good fine. From a guy posting in the comments. Also.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1911684227529396667

 

[Himeno]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1911664754139238507

https://twitter.com/x/status/1911673669698597254

That would be the conversion of the AY wet lease to dry lease.

 

[evanb]

That would be the conversion of the AY wet lease to dry lease.

Not specifically. There are a lot of moving parts. A380 returns plus AY conversions to dry leases plus possibility of 2x more AY A330 wetleases from Sep 25 to Mar 26.

A380 going on SYD-SIN terminator 2x weekly (remaining 5x weekly), SYD-HNL partly going to AY A330 once they become dry leases. The big kicker is what happens with HND. My hunch is they're finding a way to use the A380

 

[Himeno]

plus possibility of 2x more AY A330 wetleases from Sep 25 to Mar 26.

Where is the idea of more AY wet leases coming from?

 

[evanb]

Where is the idea of more AY wet leases coming from?

QF FDC. Suggestion is that the current wet leases will continue to March 2026, and two different aircraft will come as dry lease in September/October this year. Thus having an overlap for NW25/26 to help cover for some of the refurbs and A333 wifi installations. But this isn't confirmed.

 

[moa999]

finding a way to use the A380

Can't see them sitting on the ground all day however.

If QF was to use the A380 I suspect they'd be trying to negotiate say a 2000 arrival and 2300 departure.

I don't think that HND has much space for an A380 to be sitting on an off stand anyway.

 

[evanb]

Can't see them sitting on the ground all day however.

If QF was to use the A380 I suspect they'd be trying to negotiate say a 2000 arrival and 2300 departure.

I don't think that HND has much space for an A380 to be sitting on an off stand anyway.

Why not? They sit it at LHR for 14 hours, at LAX for 9 hours.

It can only arrive/depart between 11pm and 6am. There are several code F remote stands but not noted on AIP so it requires a special arrangement with the airport.

 

[moa999]

can only arrive/depart between 11pm and 6am.

Anything can be negotiated.
LAX is somewhat different due to the QF facilities

 

[evanb]

Anything can be negotiated.
LAX is somewhat different due to the QF facilities

The arrival & departures can't be negotiated since it's in the linked to the slots and slot spacing (due to wake turbulence limits). Parking can be.

LAX is only very partially about the QF maintenance facilities. With the smaller A380 fleet and several not in action they're only doing about one A-check a week (or less) on A380s at LAX. They're actually doing a lot more B789 work there now given that the B787 base checks are more extensive (they're subsuming a lot of heavy maintenance in the base checks).

 

[Chrizztofa]

Proposed flight times for PER-JNB and PER-AKL as per Analytic Flying, for those who don't have Twitter. Flights are using the flight numbers used for the previous seasonal services to JNB and AKL.

QF65 PER JNB 14:50 20:05 T,F,Su A332
QF66 JNB PER 22:35 14:30+1 T,F,Su A332

QF111 PER AKL 18:00 4:45+1 M,W,Sa A332
QF112 AKL PER 8:50 12:50 T,F,Su A332

Decent utilisation of one aircraft. Presumably it swaps out with another A332 in AKL on Thursdays - this doesn't seem to match up with the BNE flight times so QF might need to run another A330 across the Tasman?

 

[jrfsp]

The JNB arrival time doesn’t really allow much room for domestic connections (if any) the SAA flight is much better timed for onward connections which is a big selling point for many.

Can’t see how the PER intl lounge will cope with 3 flights at once, only just has space for two flights.

Does T3 intl area have space for 3 wide bodies at once - didn’t think it did

 

[Chrizztofa]

The JNB arrival time doesn’t really allow much room for domestic connections (if any) the SAA flight is much better timed for onward connections which is a big selling point for many.

Can’t see how the PER intl lounge will cope with 3 flights at once, only just has space for two flights.

Does T3 intl area have space for 3 wide bodies at once - didn’t think it did

I suspect capacity at PER has influenced these flight times a bit, but as it's effectively a through service from AKL-PER-JNB in both directions it could support the service using NZ-originating passengers.

AKL-PER also has a decent connection with QF4 from JFK (but not on the outbound QF3).

Satellite images of PER T3 suggest gates 17, 18 and 20 are suitable for widebodies. Based on current schedules I think the time on ground during the afternoon is:

1150-1835 QF9/10 Daily
1250-1450 QF112/QF65 T,F,Su
1430 -1800 QF66/QF111 M,W,Sa
1705-1935 QF33 M,W,F

(QF71/72 to SIN, QF34 from CDG, and QF5/6 to SYD/FCO arrive and depart outside of these times).

This will be adequate under current schedules as QF112/65 and QF33 don't overlap. Three aircraft will be on the ground on Mondays and Wednesdays between 1705 - 1800 when QF33 arrives from SYD (heading to CDG) until QF111 departs for AKL. Depending on boarding times the AKL passengers may have left the lounge before the CDG passengers connecting from SYD arrive.

 

[jrfsp]

Only gates 18A & 20A can accept wide bodies

 

[Chrizztofa]

Only gates 18A & 20A can accept wide bodies

Not sure what they'll do in that case then. Remote stand? Or perhaps they change the QF33 timings?

 

[markis10]

Only gates 18A & 20A can accept wide bodies

17A can also support up to B789

 

[jrfsp]

17A can also support up to B789

Can that be accessed from the intl area though, I thought that’s the domestic only area?

 

[torks]

The arrival & departures can't be negotiated since it's in the linked to the slots and slot spacing (due to wake turbulence limits). Parking can be.

LAX is only very partially about the QF maintenance facilities. With the smaller A380 fleet and several not in action they're only doing about one A-check a week (or less) on A380s at LAX. They're actually doing a lot more B789 work there now given that the B787 base checks are more extensive (they're subsuming a lot of heavy maintenance in the base checks).

Haneda can only have 1 A380 on the ground at any one time. So if QF is parking there all day no other A380 operator can land there all day. Unless they can operate a straight turnaround I just don't see it.

 

[evanb]

Haneda can only have 1 A380 on the ground at any one time. So if QF is parking there all day no other A380 operator can land there all day. Unless they can operate a straight turnaround I just don't see it.

That seems to be an old wive's tale. There's only one A380 capable gate, so it'll have to clear the gate to a remote stand. There are some A380 capable remote stands but they're not noted on the AIP so it requires prior approval. Secondly, there are no other A380 operators at HND.

 

[Chrizztofa]

Per Aeroroutes, PER-AKL and PER-JNB are scheduled to commence from 7 December with slightly different schedules than reported above (possibly partly due to daylight savings):

Perth – Auckland eff 07DEC25 3 weekly A330-200 (Last served until January 2018)
QF111 PER1700 – 0445+1AKL 332 136
QF112 AKL0830 – 1130PER 332 257

Perth – Johannesburg eff 07DEC25 3 weekly A330-200 (Last served until March 2023)
QF065 PER1330 – 1845JNB 332 257
QF066 JNB2135 – 1330+1PER 332 257

Qantas Resumes 2 Perth International Routes in Dec 2025 — AeroRoutes

Published at 0300GMT 15APR25 Qantas in December 2025 plans to resume a pair of international routes at Perth , as the carrier plans to resume service to Auckland and Johannesburg. Operational schedule for following routes appeared since last Friday, but not officially announced until today (15APR

www.aeroroutes.com

This provides better onward connections in JNB.

Funnily enough this may still require three widebody gates in PER around lunchtime:
QF112 arrives at 1130 (and departs as QF65 at 1330)
QF10 arrives at 1150
QF71 departs at 1225