The major spend will yield a new runway, a new airport terminal and the airport’s first hotel.
Of the $5 billion, $3 billion relates to the deal with Qantas, which will see the airline group – including both Qantas and Jetstar – add 4.4 million inbound and outbound seats to Perth by 2031.
“This commitment cements our place as the western gateway to Australia,” said Western Australia’s premier, Roger Cook, while WA’s tourism minister, Rita Saffioti, called the Perth Airport-Qantas deal “one of the most important…aviation announcements in our state’s history”.
Perth Airport will build a new airport terminal to open in 2031, to which Qantas and Jetstar will relocate.
In the meantime, upgrades to existing terminals 3 and 4 will allow for a progressive increase in seats into and out of Perth on Qantas services, including the launch of new routes between Perth and the rest of the world. Two routes already flagged by Qantas are Auckland in New Zealand, and Johannesburg in South Africa, expected to take flight mid next year.
Jetstar will move to Terminal 2 this year, which will also help the low-cost carrier increase its services.
A new parallel runway is expected to open in 2028.
“This is a special moment in the history of aviation in Western Australia as this agreement will unlock the future for both Perth Airport and Qantas,” said Perth Airport CEO Jason Waters.
“Qantas has some ambitious growth plans for its operations in Perth and we are thrilled to have the opportunity to push ahead together to realise this potential.
“Western Australians will now see the largest-ever private investment in an infrastructure development in Perth – a once-in-a-lifetime investment program that will completely change the face of Perth Airport over the next decade.”
Echoing comments from Cook and Saffioti, Qantas CEO Vanessa Hudson said it was the largest airport infrastructure deal in the history of Qantas.
“It will enable us to create a world-class western hub and significantly expand our domestic and international services over the short, medium and long term,” she said.
“Not only will it allow us to bring hundreds of thousands more travellers to and through Western Australia each year, it will also make it easier for overseas tourists to connect to more destinations across Australia.
“Perth-London and Perth-Rome are two of the most popular flights on our international network, which gives us confidence in our strategy to ramp up WA flying over the next few years as we receive new aircraft and grow our fleet.”
