New Vietnam direct flight touches down at Perth Airport but still no deal with Qantas

A new direct flight from Vietnam to WA touched down on the tarmac at Perth Airport on Tuesday, as discussions to hash out a deal between the airport and Qantas continue to move “in the right direction”. The VietJet Air flight arriving from Ho Chi Minh City at Perth’s Terminal 1 marked the latest in a string of 16 new direct international routes relaunched or established since the pandemic ended. It’s also been touted as another marker of a growing relationship between WA and Vietnam. Speaking on Tuesday, Perth Airport chief operating officer Scott Woodward said the new service, which will run five times a week, would add about 52,000 extra seats in the WA market. Modelling from Perth Airport suggest each additional flight could inject about $70 million into the WA economy. The State Government had previously touted its ambition for Perth to become the Western Gateway to Australia. Every other international operator flies out of Terminal 1 except for Qantas, which uses Terminals 3 and 4. The sticking point in getting a deal between the pair done loosely revolves around the higher fees Qantas would be expected to pay to use Terminal 1 rather than the smaller space it occupies in Terminals 3 and 4, as well as how costs of building new infrastructure should be split. A deal to get Qantas using Terminal 1 however, is still ongoing, according to Mr Woodward. “The update is very much what Kate Holsgrave the acting CEO gave a few weeks ago,” he said. “Discussions are really positive and ongoing, (it’s a) very complex deal though. “So deal’s not done yet . . . but the relationship’s really positive and it’s going in the right direction.” The West Australian previously reported Perth Airport acting chief executive Kate Holsgrove and new Qantas boss Vanessa Hudson, who replaced long-serving CEO Alan Joyce earlier this year, were in regular communication. “There’s many parts to the deal and as I say it’s just working through those nuances and actually what they mean operationally,” Mr Woodward said.