No matter where you are in the world, Perth and Western Australia are closer than you think.

Sixteen international airlines operate scheduled services to and from Perth, bringing the world to Western Australia. Accessibility, especially to our near-neighbours in South East Asia, has been accentuated by new and more frequent air services linking the city to national and international destinations.

In the 2008-2009 financial year, 1.24 million passengers arrived at Perth Airport. During the same period there were 5.6 million domestic arrivals and departures.

Cathay Pacific, Singapore Airlines, Malaysia Airlines, Thai Airways, Garuda Indonesia and Royal Brunei Airlines offer good frequencies on the latest jet aircraft.  The flying time from Singapore is less than five hours, and Jakarta is just four hours away. From India, swift and convenient access is available through Singapore, Kuala Lumpur or Bangkok.

Perth is also Europe’s gateway to Australia, with one stop connections through Asia and the Middle East providing stress free long-haul travel.

The Middle East has good access through double daily Emirates services to Perth from Dubai,  South African Airways provides a daily service to Perth, and New Zealand is connected via direct services from Auckland to Perth. Flying time from Auckland is 7hrs 10mins.

Qantas, Australia’s home-grown airline, has direct services to Japan along with an extensive network to Asia, and onward to Europe. Low cost airlines, including AirAsia, which operates a Perth-Kuala Lumpur-London service, and Tiger Airways from Singapore, offer good, cheaper alternatives to the traditional carriers. Flying time from Kuala Lumpur is just 5hrs 30mins.

Across Australia, Qantas and Virgin Blue continue to offer an extensive route network between the major and secondary cities, complemented by low cost carriers Jetstar and Tiger Airlines.

Skywest has a network that stretches from one end of Western Australia to the other, from Kununurra and Broome in the north to Albany and Esperance in the south. It also connects with Darwin in the Northern Territory and the Indonesian resort island of Bali. Flying time from Denpasar, Bali, is just 3hrs 30mins.

Skippers Aviation specialises in connecting Perth to the mining areas in the Pilbara region.

So sit back and relax. Perth is nearer than you think.