Qantas plans non-stop flight from Perth to London on new Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner aircraft

QANTAS could soon offer a 19 hour, non-stop flight from Australia to the UK eclipsing its own record for being the longest commercial flight in the world.

Qantas plans non-stop flight to London

QANTAS plans to offer a 19 hour non-stop flight between Perth and London within two years, to become the longest commercial flight in the world.

Qantas chief executive Alan Joyce said the airline had plans to fly the 14,000 kilometre route between Australia and the UK by 2017 using its new Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner.

“The 787-9 has the range to operate such a route,” Joyce told Air Transport World. “This opens up direct service from Australia to Europe for the first time.”

To fly this ultra-long route would require two pairs of pilots and additional cabin crew with a crew rest area to be fitted above the passenger cabin.

However the route would come with challenges as it would most likely mean flying over the Crimea which is currently off-limits to airlines following the shooting down of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17.

There are also concerns regarding the options of alternate airports should the aircraft be unable to land in Perth. The closest international airport is Adelaide, more than 2000km away.

Qantas currently flies the world’s longest route on its Sydney to Dallas-Fort Worth leg, covering 13,800km in around 14 hours.

This year Emirates announced it was planning to topple Qantas from its mantle with a flight from Dubai to Panama to begin in February 2016 flying more than 13,821km on a Boeing 777-200LR. However Air India is set to eclipse that flight with a 14,003km direct flight from Bengaluru to San Francisco.

Qantas has eight 787-9 Dreamliner aircraft on order to replace its 747 jumbo jets.

Originally published as Qantas plans non-stop flight from Perth to London on new Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner aircraft