Overview
Everyone loves heading overseas for a holiday, but no one likes spending more time actually getting from point A to point B than they absolutely have to. So, before the pandemic grounded international getaways from Australia for the better part of two years, Qantas had been working to make stopovers a thing of the past — introducing direct flights from Perth to London, and exploring the possibility of doing the same from Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane.
While those non-stop east coast legs are currently on hold, the Aussie airline has just announced a new direct trip — and the only flight that'll connect Australia to continental Europe. Between June and October 2022, the carrier will fly return from Perth to Rome three times a week. And yes, that timing is 100-percent aimed at letting Australians take full advantage of European summer holidays.
The new flights will technically end and begin in Sydney, with a stopover in Perth — and they'll be more than three hours faster than the current quickest travel time from Australia to Rome. That means fewer hours spent in transit, and more to actually soak in Italy. It also means spending a big unbroken block of time in the air, which still sounds a bit like science fiction after so long without international travel.
If that's your 2022 plans sorted — why just have an Australian summer when you can enjoy Europe's warmest season as well? — tickets for the new route have gone on sale, starting from $1785 return.
The Sydney–Perth–Rome flights will debut on Wednesday, June 22, and are currently scheduled to run until Thursday, October 6.
And, if you're keen to head elsewhere on the continent, you'll be able to use Rome as a connection point to fly to 16 other European destinations, including Athens, Barcelona, Frankfurt, Nice, Madrid and Paris — and 15 spots in Italy, Milan and Venice among them.
Also, if you fancy flying into Rome but coming home from London, or vice versa, Qantas will let you combine the two direct routes on the one return ticket.
Qantas' new Australia–Rome direct flights will fly from Wednesday, June 22–Thursday, October 6. For more information, or to book tickets, head to the airline's website.