Historic Qantas flight lands at Heathrow
Qantas’ historic inaugural non-stop Perth to London flight has landed at Heathrow.
Flight QF9, carrying more than 200 passengers and 16 crew, left Perth just before 7pm on Saturday evening and landed in London at 5am on Sunday.
Operated by a Boeing 787-9, the flight reduces total travel time by eliminating stopovers and taking advantage of favourable winds.
Qantas Group CEO Alan Joyce, one of the passengers on the flight, described it as a major milestone for global aviation.
"This is a truly historic flight that opens up a new era of travel. For the first time, Australia and Europe have a direct air link," he said.
"The original Kangaroo Route from Australia to London was named for the seven stops it made over four days back in 1947. Now we can do it in a single leap.
"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."
The daily QF9 begins in Melbourne, flying to Perth before then flying non-stop to London.
Qantas has tweaked the times of some domestic services into Perth so passengers from Adelaide, Sydney and Brisbane can also join the flight to London.
Bev
Editor in chief Bev Fearis has been a travel journalist for 25 years. She started her career at Travel Weekly, where she became deputy news editor, before joining Business Traveller as deputy editor and launching the magazine’s website. She has also written travel features, news and expert comment for the Guardian, Observer, Times, Telegraph, Boundless and other consumer titles and was named one of the top 50 UK travel journalists by the Press Gazette.
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