First direct Qantas flight between Australia and Europe set for takeoff from Perth on Saturday
QANTAS pilot Lisa Norman is about to make history when she captains the first direct trip from Australia to Europe, which will be third longest flight in the world.
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QANTAS pilot Lisa Norman will make history on Saturday when she captains the first direct flight from Australia to Europe.
The Sydney mum of two said she felt privileged to be chosen to co-captain the inaugural Perth to London flight and was looking forward to landing the Boeing 787-Dreamliner in London.
The 14,498km flight is expected to take 17 hours and 20 minutes and will be about 15 minutes longer than Qantas’ 13,730km Sydney-Dallas operation, making it the longest Qantas flight, and third longest flight in the world.
Flight QF9 will depart from Perth at 6.50pm on Saturday, March 24 and is scheduled to touch down at London’s Heathrow Airport at 5.10am on Sunday, March 25.
Born in Bendigo and raised in Melbourne, 51 year-old Cpt Norman is one of Qantas’ six female international captains.
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She said she was humbled to be part of something as historic as the first direct flight between Australia and England but the flight would be “business as usual” for the four pilots and 12 cabin crew members on board.
“Qantas has a long history of doing these long haul operations. On this occasion we will have two captains and a first and second officer, so operationally it will really be business as usual for us, but what is really exciting is linking the two continents for the first time,” Cpt Norman said.
“This is history-making. It is a very significant milestone and to be part of that ... is quite a privilege.”
Joining Cpt Norman on the flight deck of the history-making flight will be Brisbane pilots, Cpt Jeffrey Foote and Second Officer Troy Lane, and First Officer David Summergreene, who is based in Sydney.
The new QF9/10 Perth to London return service will replace Qantas’ Melbourne-Dubai-London operation.
Qantas CEO Alan Joyce said the Dreamliner was specially designed for long flights, with built-in features to reduce jet lag and improve the overall travel experience.
“We’ve added a very high level of comfort in each of the cabins and a lower seat count than most of our competitors. And we’re making tweaks to our in-flight service designed to help customers enjoy the journey more,” he said.
Cpt Norman said higher humidity and lower cabin altitude on the Dreamliner made spending more than 17 hours in the air relatively comfortable.
A special Neil Perry-designed menu — which includes health poke bowls and a custom-made herbal tea — aims to increase hydration, encourage sleep at optimal times and reduce jet lag on the long flight.
The menu was created in collaboration with clinical sleep specialists, nutritionists and metabolic scientists.
Cpt Norman said she felt “fantastic” after long flights on the Dreamliner.
“I feel really great on this plane. To give an example, on the A380 after about six hours flying I usually have to put lip balm on, but I don’t feel so dehydrated on this plane,” she said.
First officer David Summergreene said all four pilots would be on the flight deck for takeoff and landing but once the plane was cruising would spilt into two teams, with a captain and officer working at all times, while the other two rested in the cabin.
The roster of who worked and rested, when, would not be decided until Saturday, he said.
“On the day we will decide how we are feeling and on this sort of flight we would probably be looking at around seven or eight hours of rest time. We have a full flat bed that we can retire to and sleep on for those periods,” he said.
Cpt Norman said landing a huge plane was one of the most challenging, but exciting and enjoyable, parts of being a pilot.
“It has never been nerve-racking for me and in fact it’s one of the best parts of this job because it’s challenging,” she said.
“I love being in command and making all the operational decisions — that’s what really attracts me to the job. And landing this aircraft is just superb — it’s a beautiful aircraft to fly. I love the physical side of flying. I’ve landed in snow and on short runways and in cross winds and all sorts of thing in my nearly 30 years at Qantas and that’s what fuels my passion for the job. It’s never nerve-racking; it’s a beautiful challenge to confront and it’s so satisfying.”
First officer David Summergreene said, like on all flights, the pilots would be focused on the route and weather conditions.
“It just means we will be doing it for a longer period of time on this flight but there’s not really anything we will do on this flight that’s not done on other Qantas flights,” he said.
“Destination weather is one of the biggest concerns and what we are constantly assessing, because if that weather deteriorates we will have divert to another airport, As pilots, we always make redundancy plans — we always have a Plan B, a back-up plan, if we can’t land at our chosen airport for one reason or another, and we’re constantly considering the fuel that would be required to do that. We will do that during the whole flight.”
Passengers on the inaugural flight will include special guests such as the Premier of Western Australia, Mark McGowan, Western Australia Tourism Minister, Paul Papalia, chef Neil Perry, designer David Caon and around-the-world solo pilot and adventurer, Michael Smith.
There will also be a number of paying passengers, keen to be part of the history-making flight.
Some passengers will be wearing special monitors and devices as part of research being conducted by the University of Sydney’s Charles Perkins Centre.
Data will be collected on the sleeping and activity patterns, mental state, eating patterns and hydration of passengers before, during and after their long flight.
WHAT’S ON THE PERTH-LONDON IN-FLIGHT MENU
• Probiotic Bc30 infused Botanica cold pressed juice shots
• A bespoke herbal tea, which encourages relaxation developed especially for Qantas by Dilmah, made from lemon verbena camomile and lemongrass
• Dishes which feature ingredients that promote hydration such as green leafy vegetables, cucumber, strawberries and celery
• Tailoring specific ingredients such as chilli to particular times of the day
• Lighter meal options such as tuna poke salad bowl
• A hot chocolate bedtime drink with the combination of warm milk and chocolate containing the sleep inducing amino acid Tryptophan to help prompt the body’s sleep cycle
• Organic kombucha by Remedy: a live cultured, sparkling drink containing natural probiotics that can assist with digestion.
Originally published as First direct Qantas flight between Australia and Europe set for takeoff from Perth on Saturday
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