Qantas Airways : launches special fares for weekends in Broome

Qantas has worked with the West Australian Government to launch special weekend fares aimed at boosting the number of people travelling to Broome.

Special weekend fares are available from $199 one-way during high season and $179 one-way during low season for flights from Perth to Broome, for travel from August this year.* This is a saving of more than $200 for a return trip. These special weekend fares are available where travel is booked at least 60 days in advance as part of a 12-month trial.

The special fares are made possible by using a larger aircraft on the route, taking advantage of spare flying time on weekends and support from the West Australian Government.

The A320 aircraft that will operate on the route are used on weekdays for corporate customers in the WA resources market. These aircraft would otherwise be on the ground on weekends.

The A320 aircraft are configured as an all-Economy cabin and can carry 55 additional passengers compared with the Boeing 717 aircraft currently on the Perth-Broome route on weekends, which improves economies of scale and will help meet increasing demand from leisure travellers.

In the high season, 500 discounted seats will be available per week on the A320 flights and 600 discounted seats will be available per week in the low season. New A320 weekend flights to Broome are scheduled as follows:

• In the high season from June to October, new A320 flights will be added to the schedule on Fridays and Sundays, and the morning Saturday service will be upgauged from a 717 to an A320 - an increase of 830 seats per week on the route.
• In the low season from October to June, flights will be upgauged from a 717 to an A320 on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays - an increase of 330 seats per week on the route.

The Perth-Broome schedule for the remainder of the week, for flights between Monday and Thursday, remains unchanged.

The special weekend fares are available for booking from today, for travel from 17 August 2018 at qantas.com (opens in new window) or via Travel Agents.

The special weekend fares will be offered as a 12-month trial, during which Qantas will review the uptake and effectiveness. Broome residents continue to have access to Qantas' discounted fares program, which offers discounts of up to 30% off year-round fares for return travel to Perth. Qantas will also continue to offer regular sale fares on the route, including for travel on weekdays.

Qantas continues to develop new initiatives with the Broome tourism community to showcase all the region has to offer. Broome features on the front of the cover of this month's Qantas inflight magazine which is available to a potential four million readers inflight each month.

Comments from Andrew Parker, Group Executive of Government, Industry and International Affairs

'This is a new opportunity that makes good use of aircraft that would otherwise be on the ground over the weekend. It will help us deliver great value for travellers, stimulating tourism and driving new business opportunities for Broome and the Kimberley region.

'We'll be marketing the new flights to encourage people to take advantage of them and to see what a beautiful place Broome is to visit.'

'Qantas has worked closely with the West Australian Government, which has played a critical role in helping us make this trial possible.'

* High season travel is between 17 August and 16 October 2018 and 21 June - 17 August 2019. Low season travel is between 17 October 2018 to 20 June 2019. Two levels of weekend fares are available where flights are booked either 60 days or 45 days ahead of travel. A320 services are operated by Network Aviation for QantasLink.