A financial spat between Qantas and Perth Airport is hindering the airline's plans for direct, non-stop flights between Western Australia and other cities including Paris and Johannesburg.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Perth Airport is suing Qantas in the WA Supreme Court for millions of dollars over alleged unpaid charges for aeronautical services.
Qantas Group chief executive Alan Joyce said he wanted to settle the dispute quickly so the airline could proceed with other non-stop services.
"We're working through the economics of ordering the aircraft for that, but one of the delays we have is unfortunately we have a dispute with the airport ... and that could take a number of years," he told ABC radio on Tuesday.
"We think it could be resolved a lot faster than that, we hope it will because that will allow us to start building more services out of WA.
"The last agreement we had goes back to 2011 and since then interest rates have come down, the assets have depreciated and we do believe it is too high."
Mr Joyce claimed Qantas was already paying a fair price to the airport, but would be happy for an independent arbitrator such as the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission to make a binding determination.
While Qantas invested in Terminal 3 and 4 for direct Perth to London flights, it intends to fly its planes entirely out of Terminal 1 by 2025 "subject to the right commercial terms being negotiated with the airport", Mr Joyce said.
"If we can get a reasonable outcome ... we're absolutely committed to moving there."
Premier Mark McGowan said it was important to have Qantas at the central terminal given the state government was building a railway there.
Mr Joyce also said the non-stop flights between Perth and London over the past year had provided a $101 million boost in visitor spending in WA.
The 787 Dreamliner service is the only direct connection between Australia and Europe, travelling about 14,000 kilometres each flight.
Mr Joyce said about 60 per cent of passengers came from Australia, while UK residents made up most overseas passengers at 31 per cent.
Passengers travelling between Australia and London via Perth are also up 30 per cent, including a seven per cent increase in visitors from the UK coming to WA.
There have only been four cancelled flights out of 720 scheduled services.
Australian Associated Press
