Revealed: Qantas looks at direct Darwin-London flights permanently

Qantas is investigating using Darwin as a transit point for its international flights to London post-Covid, citing Perth’s ‘conservative’ border policies.

• Qantas to operate direct Darwin to London A380 flight

QANTAS is investigating using Darwin as a transit point for its international flights to London post-Covid.

The airline says the ability to fly non-stop between Australia and London is expected to be in even higher demand post-Covid and

Using Darwin as the main entry point for repatriation flights has been a good test for its international capability.

The airline began operating its first ever flagship Sydney to London Airbus A380 service via Darwin in March last year after Singaporean Government Covid-19 travel restrictions forced it to use Darwin as its refuelling stop.

The flying kangaroo could use Darwin as a permanent base for London flights. Picture: AFP PHOTO / Greg WOOD

The service has been so successful Qantas says it is considering Darwin as an alternative (or in addition) to its existing Perth hub given conservative border policies in Western Australia.

Darwin sits 13,820km from London making it the closest major city in Australia to London.

It takes 16 hours and 45 minutes to fly to London from Darwin and 16 hours and 20 minutes on the return from London.

Currently the repatriation aircraft departs Sydney at 6pm, arrives in Darwin at 9.15pm and departs again at 11pm before arriving in London the following day at 6.15am.

QANTAS CEO Alan Joyce has outlined how the airline will emerge from the Covid-19 pandemic. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Jeremy Piper

On the return it departs London at 10:05am, arrives in Darwin at 11:55pm and departs again at 1:15am before landing in Sydney at 7am.

The non-stop flight between Australia and England from Perth takes 17 hours and 20 minutes.

Originally published as Revealed: Qantas looks at direct Darwin-London flights permanently