South African Airways’ direct services between Perth and Johannesburg resumed on Monday, after a more than four-year pause.
The resumption of the service, which will run three times return each week, almost halves the travel time between the two cities via other routes already in service.
The reduction of the travel time from around 17 hours to just under 10 could boost the number of delegates from South Africa and the broader African continent attending international conferences in Perth.
The service will bring more than 39,000 inbound seats to Perth each year.
The Western Australian Government, which has a $75 million Aviation Recovery Fund, has supported 19 new or resumed commercial aviation routes since the state eased its pandemic restrictions and reopened its international border in 2022.
“This non-stop service operated by South African Airways represents a significant milestone in our state’s aviation recovery,” said WA’s tourism minister, Rita Saffioti.
“We’re really excited this service between Johannesburg and Perth has been reinstated, which brings massive advantages for our state’s tourism industry and of course, marks the 19th international destination we have secured direct links to since the pandemic.”
News from Air New Zealand, meanwhile, is less positive, with the carrier announcing it is extending the pause to its direct Auckland-Chicago service.
When the airline announced it would be pausing the service in March, it was anticipated that the service would resume in October this year.
However, last month, Air New Zealand’s general manager of long haul, Scott Carr, confirmed the pause would be significantly extended.
“Unfortunately, ongoing challenges with the availability of Rolls Royce Trent 1000 engines on our 787-9 aircraft means we haven’t been able to return to our Chicago route in October as expected,” Carr said.
“We anticipate returning to Chicago when we receive our new 787 aircraft from Boeing, currently expected in the second half of 2025.
“While we know this news of a further pause will be disappointing for customers with travel plans to Chicago, there are still plenty of options to travel to the city with a stopover in another US port.”
The news will be a blow to any business events groups or conference delegates flying between the two destinations over the next year.
