Historic non-stop flight between Australia and UK ready for take off
- Thread starter Blackleaf
- Start date
You can get to anywhere from Australia, but it would help if you took the shortest possible route to your destination rather than a long and winding one.
Australia-UK: First non-stop flight arrives in London from Perth
BBC News
25 March 2018
The Qantas 787-9 Dreamliner has a longer range than its predecessors
The first scheduled non-stop flight between Australia and the UK has touched down in London's Heathrow Airport.
Qantas Flight QF9 completed its 14,498km (9,009-mile) journey from Perth in just over 17 hours.
The airline is using the Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner, which is twice as fuel-efficient as the Boeing 747.
It is part of ambitious plans by Qantas to add ultra long-haul flights to its schedules.
The Australian flag carrier's Chief Executive, Alan Joyce, has called the new Perth-London service a "game-changing route".
Speaking at an event ahead of the inaugural flight, he said the earliest Qantas flights between Australia and the UK - known as the "kangaroo route" - had taken four days and involved seven stops.
Western Australia's state government is also hoping to see an increase in tourist numbers as a result of the new direct route.
The historic flight, carrying more than 200 passengers and 16 crew, departed from Perth at 18:49 local time on Saturday.
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Qantas ✔@Qantas
A momentous occasion on the flight deck of #QF9#QantasDreamliner
1:09 PM - Mar 24, 2018
931 Likes 273 people are talking about this
1:09 PM - Mar 24, 2018
931 Likes 273 people are talking about this
Qantas Chief Executive Alan Joyce checked in at Perth for the inaugural flight
To minimise the discomfort of such a long flight, the plane is equipped with features that provide improved air quality and lower cabin noise.
Some of the passengers agreed to share data on their sleeping and activity patterns with researchers from the University of Sydney.
They wore special monitors and devices that also recorded data about their mental state, eating patterns and hydration levels.
Some aviation fanatics in the UK were up early tracking the plane's flight path and anticipating its landing.
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Richard Evans @evansjrichard
@Qantas not long to go!
4:47 AM - Mar 25, 2018
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Another user, Leigh Mason, said the achievement was "amazing", adding: "Hope to fly this one day."
The Premier of Western Australia, Mark McGowan, tweeted on arrival in London: "A new era of travel and opportunities for Western Australia's economy has officially begun."
Those arriving in London in the early hours following their historic flight shared images of the welcome they received at Heathrow Airport.
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Australian Aviation @AusAviation A warm and cheery welcome on a chilly Sunday morning at #London Heathrow for those arriving on #Qantas flight #QF9 from #Perth #qfdreamliner
5:51 AM - Mar 25, 2018
76 Likes 31 people are talking about this
The flight is the world's second-longest after Qatar Airways' route from Doha to Auckland, which spans 14,529km, according to the International Air Transport Association.
Other carriers, including Emirates and United Airlines, have also flown non-stop journeys greater than 14,000km.
In 2017, United Airlines launched a route from Los Angeles to Singapore, offering the longest-distance non-stop flight available from the US.
But Singapore Airlines has provided the world's longest flight, travelling more than 15,300km from Singapore to New York on a direct route that was discontinued in 2013.
Australia-UK: First non-stop flight arrives in London from Perth - BBC News
Qantas staff wave Australian and British flags at the Boeing 787 Dreamliner after landing at Heathrow Airport after a 17 hour flight
A Qantas Boeing 787 Dreamliner landing at Heathrow Airport after a direct flight from Perth to London
The historic flight into London flew from Australia non-stop in 17 hours and 6 minutes
Alan Joyce (right) celebrates as he arrives into Terminal 3 at Heathrow Airport in London
Officers and captains of the first ever direct flight from Perth to London sit in arrivals at Heathrow Terminal
Qantas CEO Alan Joyce (middle) celebrates with passengers and crew at Heathrow Airport the success of the first flight from Perth to London
The trip marks the beginning of the fastest way to travel from Australia to Europe
Not everything was smooth sailing as the flight experienced some turbulence from Cyclone Marcus
The inaugural trip took off to a round of applause and landed with another round of applause as people made history on this first ever event
Qantas Chief Alan Joyce (pictured) arrives at the check-in counter at Perth Airport for the first direct flight to Heathrow airport from Perth at Perth Airport
Qantas Group CEO Alan Joyce (pictured) described it as a major milestone for Australia
A former RAF pilot has just been on Sky News talking about this flight and he was asked about whether a non-stop flight between London and Sydney will be possible. And he said it will probably be in the next few years. But he pointed out that whilst plane journeys have now got longer their speeds haven't gone faster and he said he would maybe like to see the return of Concorde, which made its last flight in 2003, and do these long-haul flights. Either that, or develop new super-fast airliners.
You'd have to perform two or three mid-air refuelings (of a civilian airliner!!!) to get a Concorde from Sydney to London. How many did it take you get a V-bomber with the same sort of engine to the Falklands?