Qantas and Perth Airport bury the hatchet over terminal move

The terminal is expected to open in 2031, with Perth Airport to invest in upgrades to current Qantas Terminals 3 and 4 to add capacity in the meantime. Jetstar operations will move to Terminal 2 from September this year, while Qantas says the Terminal 3 and 4 upgrades will allow it to add more destinations from Perth, including Auckland and Johannesburg next year.

Gates will also be upgraded to accommodate ultra-long-haul aircraft, including the Project Sunrise A350-1000s to arrive in 2026, and Qantas will build a new engineering hangar at Airport Central.

The new terminal will include seamless domestic and international transfers, “state-of-the-art” check-in and bag drop, and “a multi-lounge precinct for international and domestic passengers”, Qantas said.

Qantas CEO Vanessa Hudson has hailed the agreement as “the largest infrastructure deal in [Qantas] history”, and says Qantas and Jetstar plan to add 4.4 million seats per year to and from Perth by the time the new terminal is completed.

“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.

“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.”

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According to Hudson, the extra flights will create an estimated 700 new WA jobs, including pilot, crew, engineering, and airport staff roles.

“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,” Hudson said.

“With the launch of Perth-Paris in July and Jetstar’s new services into Asia starting later this year, we have a pipeline of growth underway that will mean Perth is on track to become our second biggest international gateway behind Sydney.”

Perth Airport CEO Jason Waters said the deal will “unlock the future” for both the airport and Qantas, with the Flying Kangaroo putting forward “ambitious growth plans” for its Perth operations.

“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,” Waters said.

“Perth Airport’s plans will see more than $5 billion invested in delivering new terminal facilities, a new parallel runway, two multi-storey carparks with associated roadworks, and our first airport hotel.

“This will create thousands of construction and ongoing jobs, underpin the future growth of the FIFO-based resources sector, generate new tourism and trade opportunities, and deliver enormous ongoing benefits to Western Australia.

“Most importantly, it will deliver one airport for the people of Western Australia which will host all flight services giving them a seamless, world-class travel experience.”

The deal is a win for Qantas, which had argued it needed more upgrades on Terminal 3 while facilities at Airport Central were being completed. The move to the new T1 international terminal had been planned since at least 2016 when Qantas signed an in-principle agreement to shift its international operations across by the end of 2025.