It’s all happening in Perth.
Just as two of the three major Middle Eastern airlines are set to increase capacity to the WA capital (with Qatar Airways upgrading its daily flight to an A380 and Emirates going all-A380s with its two daily flights) the third big gulf airline, Etihad Airways, has announced it’s pulling out of Perth altogether.
Perth is one of two cities to be cut from Etihad’s route network (the other being Edinburgh) as the airline struggles to get back into the black following years of huge losses.
The airline’s last flight from Abu Dhabi to Perth will depart on 30 September 2018, while the final Perth-Abu Dhabi flight will take off on 1 October. The airline will no doubt be in touch with affected passengers.
This is bad news for Velocity Frequent Flyers, as Etihad provided a solid option for redeeming Velocity Points to the Middle East, Europe and elsewhere – and award seat availability from Perth was very good.
In other news, Qantas looks set to make further waves in Perth. Fresh from launching its London service last month, the airline appears to be planning flights to Johannesburg from later this year.
No official announcement has been made yet, but a draft schedule was briefly filed that suggests there will be four services per week starting in December. The flights would be operated by an A330, likely with the the well-regarded business suite on board. Stay tuned for more news on this front.
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