Qantas is promising DIRECT flights from Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane to New York and London – with NO stopovers
- Qantas promises direct flights from Australia’s east coast to London, New York
- They would fly no-stop from Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane to world cities
- No commercial airline has ever flown direct from New York City to Australia
- Airline made the announcement as it revealed its full-year profit had fallen
Qantas is closer to offering no-stopover flights from east coast cities to London and New York.
The company has scheduled three research flights later this year to test the viability of the marathon journeys.
The flying kangaroo airline said travellers could fly uninterrupted in 19 hours to some of the world’s most popular cities and be spared from having to change flights or disembark while jets were refuelled.
Until that happens, Australians flying to New York still have to catch a connecting service at either Los Angeles or San Francisco.
Those flying to London often stop over at Bangkok.
Qantas has promised direct flights from Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane to London (the Big Ben clock tower pictured) and New York with no stopovers
No commercial airline has ever flown direct from New York to Australia.
Qantas has only once flown direct from London to Sydney but that was an experimental flight in 1989 with just 23 on board in a cabin that was stripped of heavy fittings to reduce fuel consumption.
It is hoping to change that and has announced it would be researching three, non-stop flights on brand new Boeing 787-9 Dreamliners in October, November and December.
The airline also wants Australian aviation laws changed to allow flights of 20 hours or more to land and take off.
Qantas chief executive Alan Joyce said the test flights will conduct testing to monitor the health of cabin crew, with experts from Monash and Sydney universities.
‘Flying non-stop from the east coast of Australia to London and New York is truly the final frontier in aviation so we’re determined to do all the groundwork to get this right,’ Mr Joyce said on Thursday.
Until that happens, Australians flying to New York (Statue of Liberty pictured) still have to catch a connecting service at either Los Angeles or San Francisco
‘These flights are ground-breaking in themselves. No commercial airline has done these kind of experiments before.’
Qantas said the 19-hour direct flight from New York to Sydney would be the first for a commercial airline, with two such experimental flights planned for later this year.
The London to Sydney experiment, also 19 hours, would mark the first direct flight between those cities in three decades.
The Qantas experimental flights, dubbed Project Sunrise, will have a maximum of 40 people, including crew, to minimise weight and give the necessary fuel range on the Boeing jets.
‘We’ll be making the final yes-no decision on Sunrise by the end of this year,’ Mr Joyce said.
Qantas made the announcement as it also revealed its net profit after tax for the 2018-19 financial year had fallen by 6.5 per cent to $891million.
Delivering the full-year results, Mr Joyce said higher crude oil prices had added $600million to the airline’s fuel bill, as a weaker Australian dollar caused revenue to fall by $150million.
The exchange rate earlier this month fell below 67 US cents for the first time since March 2009, a situation which makes overseas holidays and jet fuel more expensive.