Perth Airport: Main runway reopens following repairs after Qantas plane tears up pavement during take-off

Perth Airport will conduct “additional minor works” on its main runway after a Qantas plane tore up part of the pavement after it was taking off on Sunday.

The main runway was only partly operational on Sunday afternoon after Qantas flight QF71 damaged the strip as it took off around 12pm.

A video that emerged after the incident showed the plane accelerating from a stationary position, with parts of the runway pavement being ripped up.

Only some departing services were using the main runway due to the damage, with one freight plane forced to make a diversion.

After rapid repairs overnight, the airport on Monday morning confirmed the runway had reopened after urgent works were undertaken.

However, an updated statement on Monday afternoon said Perth Airport was “undertaking additional minor works on its Main Runway following an incident yesterday which caused pavement damage.”

“These additional works are based on the advice of an external civil engineer, sought as part of an ongoing investigation to understand the cause of the pavement failure,” it said.

“The incident impacted around 20 metres of pavement and occurred on a 110-metre section which had just been overlaid as part of a planned renewal of the 3440-metre runway. As this was the first section completed, no other parts of the runway are impacted.

“The Main Runway will continue to be used for departures while the recommended additional works are completed, and the Cross Runway will remain fully operational.

“This mirrors the safe operating model employed yesterday when only one freight service made a diversion.”

Premier Roger Cook called the vision “extraordinary”.

“That’s obviously very concerning. Perth Airport is a key piece of economic infrastructure for Western Australia — we use it for our mining industry, we use it for our tourism industry and it’s important for trade,” he said.

“It’s a very concerning piece of infrastructure failure.

“We’re certainly looking for an explanation from Perth Airport. You shouldn’t expect it to give way in such in such a fashion.”