Qantas enters new era

QANTAS has heralded a new era of long-haul travel from Australia with its history-making direct flight from Perth to London on the weekend.

The first scheduled non-stop service between Australia and Europe touched down at Heathrow just after 5am yesterday, marking the first step in the airline’s ambition to over- fly its competitors operating from hubs in Asia and the Middle East.

“This is a truly historic flight that opens up a new era of travel,” said Qantas Group ceo Alan Joyce who flew aboard the inaugural Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner service.

“The response to the flight has been amazing, both for the attention it’s received since we announced it and the bookings we’ve seen coming in,” he said.

“It’s great for Australian tourism, for business travellers and for people visiting friends and family on both sides of the world.”

The new daily QF9 service takes just over 17 hours to fly from Perth to London Heathrow, taking advantage of the most favourable winds on any given day without having to factor in a route via mid-point destinations.

It originates in Melbourne, connecting in Perth with other services from Adelaide, Sydney and Brisbane under an adjusted domestic schedule.

Yesterday also marked the return of the airline’s QF1 SYD- LHR service to Singapore for its mid-point stopover.

Qantas now offers three routes to London - direct from Perth on 787s, via Singapore from Sydney on A380s or via Dubai with partner carrier Emirates.

The airline is now considering other direct routes from Perth such as Paris and has restated its ‘Project Sunrise’ ambition to fly direct to Europe and North America from the eastern states.