Qantas has today announced Perth to London direct services at a small media conference in Perth. The route will be using their much anticipated 787-9 aircraft.
This route is the first connection from Australia to Europe, and the flight will cover 14,498 Km’s and take 17 hours give or take.
Per Qantas,
“This is a game-changing route flown by a game-changing aircraft. Australians have never had a direct link to Europe before, so the opportunities this opens up are huge.
“It’s great news for travelers because it will make it easier to get to London. It’s great news for Western Australia because it will bring jobs and tourism. And it’s great news for the nation because it will bring us closer to one of our biggest trade partners and sources of visitors.”
Qantas 787-9 Business Class (Image – Qantas)
With a flight time of 17 hours, comfort for passengers is paramount. The 787 will feature 42 business class seats, which will be an updated version of the current suites in a 1-2-1, 28 premium economy seats which have yet to be unveiled and 166 economy seats with a 32-inch seat pitch arranged in a 3-3-3 configuration.
Qantas 787-9 Economy Class (Image – Qantas)
The flight will depart from the Perth domestic terminal (T3/4). The terminal will be upgraded in the future to handle the flights. This means that premium passengers will be able to use the Business Class and Qantas Club lounges. The airline is hoping to move to T1 in 2025.
Qantas have said that passengers would be willing to fly to Perth for the direct service. This means you would add 4-5 hours on top of the 17hr journey. Qantas plan to time these domestic flights accordingly to then continue onto London.
Qantas have always had a big presence in London, and this route could potentially take away the current Melbourne to London flight with the stop through Dubai. Here are the current ”Kangaroo routes.”
The Perth to London flights are set to go on sale from April 2017 for flights commencing in March 2018.
For more information on the Qantas 787-9 click here.
From what I’ve seen the reaction has made a lot of people say ‘Why’ it is a different route and I’m interested in seeing how profitable the route will be. I also really would like to see what the loads would be like, especially in economy.
Bottom Line
The route would have to be worst kept secret, but that’s not a bad thing. In my opinion, I would have loved to see Chicago or Dallas be the first destination but the London route should be interesting.
