QANTAS Airways has made this announcement:

QANTAS launched another new route from Australia to Rome on June 25 with direct seasonal flights from Perth to Rome taking off in time for the European summer as Australians reignite their passion for globetrotting after two years of travel restrictions.

Above Copyright Photo: The inaugural flight arrives in Rome.

Qantas will also launch two new international routes, from Perth to Johannesburg from  November 1 and Perth to Jakarta from November 30 this year.

Qantas’ new nonstop flight from Australia to Italy is the only direct flight between Australia and continental Europe offered by any airline.

“Our flights from Perth to London are heavily booked, we’ve fast-tracked the return of our A380 fleet which will free up our 787s to operate new routes including Melbourne to Dallas, and we’re deploying A330’s to other new destinations including India and South Korea later this year.

“Qantas began services from Sydney to Rome in 1948 as part of our seven-stop Kangaroo Route to London, and from the early 1990s we flew our Queen-of-the-skies Boeing 747 twice a week until 2003 when direct services were suspended during the SARS pandemic.

Qantas will operate three flights a week from Sydney to Rome (via Perth) as the only non-stop flight between Australia and Continental Europe. Qantas passengers are also able to take advantage of a “circle fare” allowing them to fly into Rome and return to Australia from London on the one Qantas ticket.

To celebrate the launch of the new Rome route, Qantas has introduced a number of new Italian-inspired menu items and Negroni cocktails across its lounges and inflight.

It has also added a special one-off collection of iconic Italian films to its Inflight Entertainment offering across all international flights featuring classics such as Scent Of A Woman, Rome, Open City and Life is Beautiful for additional Italian travel inspiration.

Qantas will operate the thrice weekly flights from Rome to Sydney (via Perth) until  October 6 with a 236-seat Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner in three classes: 42 fully lie-flat Business, 28 Premium Economy and 166 Economy seats.

All photos by Marco Finelli.

Marco Finelli reporting from Italy.