YOU can book non-stop flights from Australia to Europe for the first time, with tickets for Qantas’ Perth-London (Heathrow) route on sale now.
Daily flights on the history-making route begin on March 24, 2018, and form part of a new Melbourne-Perth-London return service operated by Qantas’ new Boeing 787-Dreamliner – an aircraft designed specifically for comfort on long-haul sectors.
Customers from other Australian cities will be able to connect to London via Perth, while inbound passengers will be able to transfer from the WA capital to onward destinations across the country.
The new QF9/10 will replace Qantas’ existing Melbourne-Dubai-London services, marking the next evolution of the Kangaroo Route, seven decades after the national carrier first flew Australians to London.
Year-round return economy fares for Melbourne-London and Perth-London start from $2270 but are expected to drop below $2000 during sale periods. Year-round return premium economy fares start from $4450 Melbourne-London and from $4250 Perth-London. Year-round return business fares start from $9890 return Melbourne-London and from $9725 Perth-London.
By swapping its daily A380 Melbourne-Dubai-London service for a daily 787-9 Melbourne-Perth-London service, Qantas has made Victoria the hub for its first four Dreamliners.
Qantas’ first two 787s will be dedicated to the Melbourne-Los Angeles route from December this year, with the third and fourth aircraft dedicated to Melbourne-Perth-London service from March next year.
With a faster flying time and quicker connections in Perth, people travelling to London from Melbourne will reduce their total travel time by more than an hour compared with existing services.
The 14,498km flight will take about 17 hours. It is expected to be the third-longest passenger flight in the world.
The original Kangaroo route (from Sydney to London) started in 1947 and had stopovers at Darwin, Singapore, Calcutta, Karachi, Cairo, Castel Benito and Rome over four days.
