Australians Can Finally Fly Direct from Perth to London

The 70-year-old Kangaroo Route to London has had a makeover. From next March, Australia will be one single, comfortable hop from the UK.

Australians can now book tickets for Qantas's new direct Perth to London route. The daily non-stop flights on the airline’s new Boeing 787-Dreamliner are expected to sell out quickly.

The first of the new flights will take off from Perth International Airport on March 24, 2018 and arrive at Heathrow about 17 hours later.

The Dreamliners servicing the new route will originate in Melbourne, replacing Qantas’s daily A380 Melbourne-Dubai-London service, making the flight to London for customers travelling from Melbourne at least an hour shorter.

Read more: Qantas’s New Premium Economy Dreamliner Seats are Amazing

With David Caon-designed Premium Economy seating and all-round roomier cabins, 17 hours will, er, fly by. Everything on the Dreamliner has been created with the long-haul flight in mind such as increased cabin humidity (no more Sahara skin) and turbulence-decreasing technology. 

“We’re conscious that this is a long flight, but not much longer than our Sydney to Dallas service, says Qantas CEO Alan Joyce. “It’s the kind of route that the Dreamliner was created for, because of its built-in features to reduce jetlag 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.”

The new route is expected to satisfy a growing desire among Europeans and east-coast Australians to get to know the country’s vast and diverse west coast. “This route makes Western Australia a new tourism gateway for Australia,” says Joyce.  “We know from our research that there’s a lot of appetite to explore the West, not just from British and European visitors but also from Aussies on their way to London. A lot of business travellers, particularly in the resources sector, will stop off in Perth on their way to the UK.”

Return economy fares for the new route start at $2270 but during sale periods they’re expected to drop as low as $2000.

Joyce says the airline is also considering non-stop routes to other European capitals including Paris, Rome and Berlin.

The Perth to London low-down

• The 14,498 kilometre flight will take approximately 17 hours.
• Qantas’s Perth to London route is the third-longest passenger flight in the world.
• Perth to London is the first regular non-stop passenger flight between Australia and Europe.