The so-called Kangaroo Route between Darwin and London has been cut short.
National carrier Qantas will close one of its two Darwin to London services and return it to Perth three weeks earlier than originally scheduled.
Flight QF9/10 will now depart from Perth instead of Darwin on May 23. They were previously scheduled to return to Perth from June 19.
The airline said its Darwin-London flights are operating “with reduced passenger numbers”, due in part to the Russia-Ukraine war.
A Qantas statement said due to the “effective closure” of Russian airspace, flights had to carry extra fuel to fly an alternative longer route.
The Qantas statement said that with bookings for these flights above pre-Covid levels, our Darwin to London services have very few seats available over the next six weeks.
“As a result, we’ve made the decision to return the QF9/10 service to Perth ahead of schedule so that we can accommodate more passengers.
“The flight path from Perth to London is more direct, which means we don’t have restrictions on the number of passengers on this route.
“The QF1/2 service will continue to operate direct between London and Darwin as scheduled until June 18 when it will return to Singapore.
“The majority of passengers who start or finish their journey in Darwin will be re-accommodated on the QF1/2 service. Qantas will contact affected passengers directly to advise of the change’.
Darwin replaced Perth on Qantas’ London route last November when the WA Government kept the state in Covid-lockdown. The agreement was extended in February when WA again failed to lift restrictions.
Qantas International chief executive Andrew David said thanked the NT government and Darwin Airport.
“The NT Government and Darwin Airport went above and beyond so that we could operate these services when WA kept its borders closed, and we’re extremely grateful for their partnership,” he said.
“While it has been great to operate from the Top End, we’ve always said that Perth remained the long-term home of these flights.
“We’re looking forward to reconnecting Western Australia to Europe earlier than anticipated and enabling more customers to fly.”
Comment has been sought from the Northern Territory Government.