Qantas makes history with 17-hour Australia-Europe flight

Long-haul routes such as Perth to London are made more manageable for crews with the presence of four pilots on the aircraft, allowing two at a time extended rest periods in designated sleeping areas.

The long haul across oceans and continents was made by a Boeing 787 Dreamliner called Emily.

“It is an historic day for Western Australia; an historic for aviation; an historic day Qantas – it is the best service that Qantas has ever put in the air”.

The new route from the West Australian capital to London shaves several hours off the journey for those departing Perth. He singled out Neil Perry for designing menus that will reduce jet lag.

He added: “We believe that advances on the next few years will close the gap”. There are 30,000 of them.

“The world has been watching us today”.

David Munk travelled on QF9 as a guest of Qantas.

“It works very well for business travellers who can stop in Perth on their way from the east coast for meetings before carrying on to London”, she said.

“We can bulk up our service to Asia with more seats to Singapore and Japan than ever before”.

Alan said: “This is the antidote to the tyranny of distance and a revolution for air travel in Australia”.

Dr Dunne said travellers should ensure they stay well hydrated, and take practical steps to minimise the impact of dryness, such as packing lip balm and eye drops.

“We have record numbers coming to Australia, spending a record amount of money”.

The former “kangaroo route”, so-called because of all the short hops, followed in 1947 took four days and seven stops. “It’s going to help drive economic growth, not only here in WA, but also across Australia”.

Still, the Perth-London route will deliver a “significant boost” to Western Australia’s $191 billion economy, said Chris Rodwell, chief executive officer of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

“It’s really just the beginning”, said Merkert at the University of Sydney. Tourism officials hope the shortened travelling time will open up Australia’s less-populated west coast to more domestic and global visitors. Recently, the title has passed from hand to hand between Qantas with its 16-hour, 50-minute flight from Dallas Fort-Worth to Sydney, and Emirates with its 17-hour, 15-minute flight from Auckland to Dubai.

While some were mostly upset that the non-stop flight meant no cigarettes.

Joyce mentioned Qantas’ near century of flying. For the 229 passengers on board the Boeing 787-9 the experience was of a smooth, seamless service, but that belied the many years of planning and preparation Qantas had conducted.

Qantas’ new non-stop Perth-London route is returning to Western Australia after its maiden flight to Europe, and passengers are in for a bonus on landing.