Direct flights between Western Australia and Japan are set to resume after more than three years.
All Nippon Airways (ANA) will resume its Perth to Tokyo (Narita) route on 29 October, flying return services three times per week on Boeing 787-9 Dreamliners and adding almost 75,000 seats back into the market. The route was popular both inbound and outbound until it was suspended in March 2020, said Perth Airport acting CEO Kate Holsgrove.
“The return of ANA to Perth is a major step forward in rebuilding international aviation connections and we expect there to be huge demand for this route when it resumes later this year,” she said.
“We will continue to work closely with ANA to rebuild confidently towards a daily service with strong passenger demand all year-round.
“This represents another success story for the Team Perth approach of working with tourism, businesses, exporters and the State Government to grow the aviation sector in Western Australia.”
ANA first launched non-stop services between Perth and Tokyo (Narita) in September 2019, but was forced to halt them just six months later after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.
ANA’s original Perth-Narita route, which used 787-8s as opposed to the slightly larger 787-9, connected Western Australia with Japan for the first time since 2011, when Qantas ended its three-times-weekly flights with Boeing 767-300ERs.
Bookings for the restarted service are already on sale, with flights to operate every Wednesday, Friday and Sunday.
“We are still focused on delivering more international flights for Western Australia and look forward to working with the new Tourism Minister Hon Rita Saffioti MLA to further connect Perth and Western Australia to the world,” said Holsgrove.
