The direct flights, originally slated to restart on 19 June, will now resume ahead of schedule on 23 May with tickets on sale from Wednesday (4 May).

At the time of its launch in 2018, the route was the first and only non-stop service between Australia and the UK helping to bring more than 122,000 British travellers to Western Australia in 2019.

Before the service was temporarily rerouted amid the pandemic, international leisure arrivals from Europe to Western Australia had increased almost 3% year-on-year in 2019, injecting around $545 million AUD worth of visitor spend into the economy.

Last month Western Australia relaxed its Covid-19 entry rules with international visitors no longer needing to take a test on arrival, making the state the last in Australia to reopen to overseas travellers following the pandemic. 

Roger Cook, deputy premier and tourism minister of Western Australia, said the UK was a “key market”, adding how the early return of the Perth-London route "marks a great day for tourism in our state".

“The two direct connections from Perth to London and Rome will provide a huge boost in the number of visitors coming to Western Australia from Europe, which will create more jobs in our tourism, entertainment and hospitality industries, and inject millions into our state’s economy," said Cook. "This is yet another sign of confidence that Western Australia is open for business and open for tourism."