Australian airline Qantas will fly the first-ever non-stop A380 service from Australia to the UK in a move to work around coronavirus travel restrictions. The route will run from Darwin to London.
One of Qantas’ most popular routes is its Sydney-Singapore-London flight, but from March 23, Singapore has suspended entry for short-term visitors and transit passengers, rendering Qantas' Kangaroo flight path non-viable.
To get around this, the airline plans to make the journey from Sydney, via Darwin in northern Australia. From there, it will continue directly to the UK with an expected flight time of 16 hours and 45 minutes.
Qantas already fly from Australia to London non-stop, but the Perth to Heathrow service is operated via a Boeing 878-9.
According to Airline Route, the last Qantas flight to depart Australia bound for London is scheduled to depart Sydney on that day. It will fly to Darwin to refuel, but passengers will remain on board the aircraft. It will then fly 9,266 miles (14,912 km) to London Heathrow.
The return journey will be one of Qantas' last international flights before it grounds all passenger flights at the end of the month. It will leave London on Friday March 27 and will also stop in Darwin on its way back to Sydney.
The skies on March 25 versus February 25:
Travellers on this flight have a slightly longer trip before them with a flight time of 17 hours and 50 mins.
The longest A380 flight in operation
The trip will be the longest scheduled A380 flight currently in operation.
Emirates' Auckland to Dubai service typically holds this title – but that flight was suspended on Tuesday after UAE authorities announced a two-week flight suspension for passenger air travel.
Travel restrictions, flight suspensions and country lockdowns put in place to curb the spread of Covid-19 over the last few weeks have forced airlines to cancel, suspend and modify flight routes.
Singapore's significant tightening of restrictions on those who can enter or transit via Singapore has had a major impact on flights operating in and out of the country. Several other nations, 38 at last count, have taken this step even further, grounding all passengers flights operating in and out of the country.
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Passenger aircraft operated by Emirates stand beside the terminal building at Dubai International Airport in Dubai during March. All photos by Bloomberg -
Passenger aircraft operated by Emirates stand beside the terminal building at Dubai International Airport. -
Multiple Airbus SE A380-800 aircraft, operated by Emirates, stand in a parking zone at Dubai International Airport. -
Emirates Boeing Co. 777-300 aircraft are seen in a parking zone at Dubai International Airport. -
An Airbus SE A380-800 aircraft, operated by Emirates, taxis past the terminal. -
An Airbus SE A380-800, right, and a line of Boeing Co. 777-300 aircraft, operated by Emirates, stand in a parking zone at Dubai International Airport. -
An Airbus SE A380-800 aircraft, operated by Emirates, takes off past the control tower. -
An Airbus SE A380-800 aircraft, operated by Emirates, taxis at Dubai International Airport. -
An Airbus SE A380-800 aircraft, right, stands alongside a line of Boeing Co. 777-300 aircraft at Dubai International Airport. -
An airport access train departs the arrivals hall in Terminal Three at Dubai International Airport.
