Australia to London non-stop: Qantas to fly direct from Perth to London

Qantas Airways is set to connect Australia and the UK with a direct 17-hour flight. Daniel Munoz / Reuters

Australia’s national carrier, Qantas Airways, will launch the first regular passenger flight directly linking Australia and Europe when it begins flights from Perth to London with Boeing 787-9 Dreamliners, the airline said.

“When Qantas created the Kangaroo Route to London in 1947, it took four days and nine stops,” Alan Joyce, Qantas’s chief executive, said in Perth.

“Now it will take just 17 hours from Perth, non-stop.”

Flights on the 14,498 kilometre route will begin in March 2018.

The federal tourism minister, Steven Ciobo, said Qantas would use Perth as a hub for passengers from eastern Australia going to Britain, and the service would boost employment and tourism.

Britain is Australia’s third-­largest source of international visitors, with more than 660,000 people coming from there to Australia last year, and spending US$3.7 billion, Mr Ciobo said.

The Boeing 787-9 Dreamliners used on the route will carry 236 passengers, Qantas said.

* Reuters