Qantas Flight QF9 completed the 9,009-mile journey from Perth – a service which was labelled by Chief Executive Alan Joyce as “game changing”.
The historic flight took place on a Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner, carrying more than 200 passengers and 16 crew.
Speaking ahead of the inaugural flight he said the earliest Qantas flights between Australia and the UK, described as the “kangaroo route”, had initially taken four days, with seven stops along the way.
The new 17-hour flight is part of an ambitious plan by the Australian flag carrier to add ultra long-haul flights to its schedules.
Western Australia is also hoping to see a boost in tourist numbers as a result, but there are unlikely to be nonstop services to other Australian destinations following the record-breaking flight from Perth. The weekend service had a reduced passenger load and was at the limit of the Dreamliner’s fuel range.
