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Tuesday, 27 March 2018

AUSTRALIA - UK: FIRST NON-STOP FLIGHT ARRIVES IN LONDON FROM PERTH


The first scheduled non-stop flight between Australia and the UK has touched down in London's Heathrow Airport.

Qantas Flight QF9 completed its 14,498km (9,009-mile) journey from Perth in just over 17 hours.

It is part of ambitious plans by Qantas to add ultra long-haul flights to its schedules.

The Australian flag carrier's Chief Executive, Alan Joyce, has called the new service a "game-changing route".

Speaking at an event ahead of the inaugural flight, he said the earliest Qantas flights between Australia and the UK - known as the "kangaroo route" - had taken four days and involved seven stops.

Western Australia's state government is also hoping to see an increase in tourist numbers as a result of the new direct route.

The historic flight, on a Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner carrying more than 200 passengers and 16 crew, departed from Perth at 18:49 local time on Saturday.

Michael Smith, a pilot and author who was a passenger on the flight, said it removed the "drudgery" of changing planes and disturbing sleep.

He told BBC Breakfast: "This way you get on in one place and land where you want to to go."

Mr Smith said the aviation "holy grail" would be to fly direct from the east coast of Australia to London or New York.

One man, who said he and his partner fly from Australia every year to visit family in Barton-on-Sea, Hampshire, said the trip "flew by".

He said: "It was amazing, the best flight we ever had, we feel fresh as daisies."

Another man said: "It was great not to have the stop and 17 hours was very comfortable."

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