Qantas centenary celebrations as non stop London-Sydney flight touches down

PM leads huge hangar party for Qantas’ centenary celebrations, as historic long-haul flight touches down.

Qantas kicks off centenary celebrations while marking the arrival of only the second non-stop London-Sydney flight in the airline’s history Picture: Qantas

Qantas has turned on a huge hangar party for the arrival of its second Project Sunrise test flight, with the Prime Minister and Opposition Leader joining a 1000-strong crowd to welcome in flight QF7879.

Only the second non-stop London-Sydney flight in Qantas history, the Boeing 787-9 covered the 17,800km distance in 19-hours and 19-minutes.

Picture: Qantas

As pop star Guy Sebastian sang “I Still Call Australia Home” with the Qantas youth choir, the plane was towed into the hangar with CEO Alan Joyce waving from the cockpit.

He disembarked from a rear door to cheers, greeted by Scott Morrison and Anthony Albanese, and Mr Joyce’s husband of two weeks, Shane Lloyd.

“Welcome home, thank you for flying Qantas,” quipped Mr Morrison, describing the carrier as an “amazing Australian airline”.

He said the flying kangaroo was one of the images people most strongly associated with Australia.

‘It’s not just because it’s a great airline but because Qantas has always encapsulated the brand of Australia,” Mr Morrison said, over the roar of aircraft engines.

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“Qantas is the best of Australia, and we thank you for your ongoing service to the country.”

As the roar of passing Q400s grew, Mr Albanese took to the stage and told the crowd “you’ve just seen the power of government to organise that aircraft at this moment”.

He continued the tributes to Qantas saying the airline was part of Australia’s national character.

“I want to echo the thoughts of the Prime Minister,” said Mr Albanese.

“I was Aviation Minister for five years and whenever there was a crisis anywhere in the world, all you had to do was pick up the phone and Qantas would deliver.”

Mr Joyce thanked the pilots and crew of the marathon flight, and made special mention of Mr Lloyd for understanding the demanding nature of his work.

“I probably should be on a honeymoon at the moment,” said Mr Joyce.

The occasion doubled as the launch of the airline’s centenary celebrations.

Qantas was established by Hudson Fysh and Paul McGinness on November 16, 1920, as the Queensland Northern Territory Aerial Service.

Since then it has been the only airline to operate for 99-years under the same name.

Chairman Richard Goyder said a Qantas centenary exhibition would tour the country next year to mark the 100th anniversary.

A commemorative $1 coin marking the centenary was unveiled by the Royal Australian Mint at the event, plus a series of collector coins to be issued by Qantas.

The commemorative $1 coin Picture: Qantas

A third test flight will be staged next month, from New York to Sydney, in a rerun of the first research flight in October.