Qantas breaks record with 17.5 hour repatriation flight between Buenos Aires and Darwin

The national carrier’s latest repatriation flight has broken its own flying record - with the plane even passing over Antarctica on its lengthy route.

Qantas has added another historic flight to its record books after one of its planes travelled a massive 15,000km - the longest passenger flight in its 100-year history.

The QF14 repatriation flight, from Buenos Aires to Darwin, made the 15,020km trip in 17 hours and 25 minutes. It beat out Qantas’ previous longest flight record by more than 500km.

The trip between London and Perth is 14,498km.

The Boeing 787-9 plane carried 107 passengers out of South America to quarantine for two weeks in the Northern Territory.

QF14 from Buenos Aires to Darwin. Picture: Flight Radar

The crew on QF14. Picture: Supplied

The flight was the return leg of a Qantas charter flight that took Argentina’s rugby union team home after their games in Brisbane for the Rugby Championship.

The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade worked with Qantas to get Australians stuck in South America home.

The 107 passengers were in addition to the four pilots, who rotated throughout the flight, and 17 cabin crew, engineering and ground staff.

The repatriation flight took off at 12.44pm local time in Buenos Aires, tracking south of Argentina, skirting the edge of Antarctica before crossing the Australian coast at 5.28pm (AEDT) and landing in Darwin at 6.39pm local time last night.

The route was extensively planned before Qantas took off from Argentina, with research crews studying the types of temperatures and headwinds the plane could experience down near the south pole.

The flight deck of QF14. Picture: Qantas

QF14 landing at Darwin International Airport. Picture: Qantas

Outside temperatures dropped as low as -75C when the plane passed over the Walker Mountains on Thurston Island, one of Antarctica’s largest islands.

The mammoth flight is another record for Qantas, which is well-known for carrying out historic long-haul trips.

The flight was 522km longer than the airline’s regular non-stop Perth to London flights, which quickly became a cornerstone of Qantas’ long-haul business when they were added in March 2018.

The airline broke its first record in 1989 when a Qantas 747 delivery flight flew non-stop between London and Sydney in 20 hours and nine minutes.

Qantas also ran two research flights on a Boeing 787 in 2019, when it flew from New York and London direct to Sydney.

Both planes successfully completed the flights, albeit with a reduced passenger load, in 19 hours.

Alex Passerini, the captain of Qantas’ flight yesterday and the airline’s chief technical pilot, said the crew and passengers were treated to “spectacular views” on the flight.

“Qantas has always stepped up to a challenge, especially when it comes to long-haul travel, and this flight is an excellent example of the capabilities and attention to detail of our flight planning team,” he said.

“There were some truly spectacular views as we tracked across Antarctica, which was an extra bonus for our passengers who were very glad to be coming home.”

QF14 also marks the first time that a flight has landed in Darwin from every inhabited continent in one year, all operated by Qantas.