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Category: Business, Economics and Finance / Air Transport

Perth Airport 'not at war with Qantas'

Tuesday, 29 Nov 2016 10:05:46 | Charlotte Hamlyn

The airport says upgrading the domestic terminal would cost $40 milllion. (ABC News: Briana Shepherd)

Perth Airport's chief executive denies he is at war with Qantas over plans to run direct flights to Europe but says the airline needs to firm up its commitment to the service before any commercial agreement can be reached.

Qantas wants the non-stop service to operate out of a domestic terminal, rather than the new international terminal, to make it easier for passengers with connecting flights.

But the airport says that would require major upgrades to the domestic terminal at a cost of about $40 million.

Airport chief executive Kevin Brown said discussions with the airline were progressing, and no options had been ruled out.

"In terms of some of the headlines we're 'at war with Qantas', we're not," Mr Brown said.

"We're in dialogue with Qantas in a discussion to look at a sensible outcome.

"There's a number of operational and commercial factors that play through in that arena."

Lack of quarantine facilities

One of those factors was the lack of quarantine or Border Force infrastructure at the domestic terminals.

"To process international passengers requires many other bodies," Mr Brown said.

"We're still working with those bodies, as are Qantas, to find a way to effectively duplicate those services."

Mr Brown said current negotiations with Qantas were only around a single service from Perth to London, but he would like to see a commitment to additional services to other major European cities.

"We would obviously love to see those additional services as well but they're not firmed up at the moment," he said.

"The firmer the commitment then the easier it is to come to a commercial outcome."

Mr Brown said he would be disappointed if an agreement could not be reached.

"Yes, we would like to see it happen, we've made that plainly clear," he said.

"It can happen tomorrow if it wants to. We have an international terminal that currently operates these aircraft on a daily basis.

"It has plenty of capacity to handle these aircraft."

Qantas has been contacted for comment.

AustraliaPlus


 

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