Qantas To Continue Operating Direct Flights Between Perth And Rome
Qantas began flying the route, which originates at Sydney Airport (SYD), in June 2022.
Qantas has announced that not only will it return to serving direct flights between Perth Airport (PER) and Rome Fiumicino Airport (FCO), the main airport of the Italian capital, but that it will also add additional capacity on the route by extending the timeframe when the direct connection is active by several weeks and add one additional weekly flight.
On September 2, 2025, Qantas unveiled that its direct PER to FCO connection would now operate between May 3, 2026, and October 23, 2026, during the summer 2026 season, with the airline going from thrice weekly services to four weekly departures on the route.
However, the four-per-week Boeing 787-9 flights between PER and FCO will be only available between June 27, 2026, and September 26, 2026, while between May 3, 2026, and June 26, 2026, and September 27, 2026, and October 23, 2026, Qantas will maintain the thrice weekly frequency on the route that it had last year.
The additional capacity will result in 40 extra flights and nearly 10,000 seats, it said, adding that the extended schedule would enable Australian travelers to enjoy “Rome’s transition from late-spring and early autumn.” It will also provide more options for its passengers flying to other Italian and European cities.
Cam Wallace, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Qantas International, said that the airline’s direct flights to FCO have been “incredibly popular with customers who tell us they love being able to depart Perth in the evening and wake up in Rome.”
“As over half the customers on our Rome flights originate from the east of Australia, our Italian flights are timed to connect seamlessly in Perth with our domestic services from the east coast.”
Wallace teased that during the summer 2026 season, which will begin on March 29, 2026, and end on October 25, 2026, Qantas will offer around 300,000 seats from PER to London Heathrow Airport (LHR), Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport (CDG), and FCO.
Qantas began flying from PER to FCO with direct services on June 22, 2022, with the seasonal route running until October 6, 2022. Flight QF5 has started at Sydney Airport (SYD) before continuing to PER and then to FCO in 2022, 2023, 2024, and 2025, with Cirium's Diio Mii showing that the Australian airline has routed the QF5 itinerary to start at SYD in 2026 as well.
In addition to the SYD-PER-CDG services, Qantas is planning flights on the SYD-PER-CDG route, while its services from PER to LHR are scheduled to be direct, or at least not originate in Sydney. SYD to LHR should continue to be flown via Singapore Changi Airport (SIN) on QF1 with the Airbus A380, per Cirium’s Diio Mi.
Before the pandemic, during the summer 2019 season, Qantas’ only European services were QF1/QF2 from SYD to LHR via SIN, as well as flights from Melbourne Airport (MEL) to LHR via PER.
In addition to Qantas’ offerings, Australian travelers have plenty of other options to fly from the country to major European cities through other global hubs, including Doha Hamad International Airport (DOH), where Qantas’ oneworld partner, Qatar Airways, is based, or Emirates’ Dubai International Airport (DXB).
Turkish Airlines and British Airways also offer their one-stop services, with the latter also flying between SYD and LHR via SIN, while the former’s connection to Istanbul Airport (IST) originates at MEL and stops at SIN before landing at the Turkish capital’s airport.
