Some 71 years after the Kangaroo Route was first established, the continents of Australia and Europe are now linked by regularly scheduled nonstop passenger flights.
QF9, operated by Boeing 787-9 VH-ZND, was carrying about 200 passengers, including Qantas executives, politicians, representatives from the media, Qantas suppliers and aviation enthusiasts.
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“It is a historic day for Western Australia, a historic day for aviation, a historic day for Qantas,” Joyce told media inside Qantas’s international transit lounge at Perth Airport’s Terminal 4 on Saturday, some three hours before QF9’s departure.
“From today it will be the first nonstop link between Australia and Europe that has ever occurred in aviation.
“We’re so excited.”
While the economics of such an ultra long-haul flight are challenging, Joyce said the response to the new route has been outstanding.
He said forward bookings showed 60 per cent of the traffic on the flight was going from London to Perth, with 40 per cent connecting onwards to the rest of the Qantas network.
“That’s important for the economics,” Joyce said.
And of the traffic that was headed to Perth, Joyce said 15 per cent of travellers were staying for three days or more.
“This is before we really get in to promoting the service, getting more attention on top of it. So this is fantastic already for tourism and I think it can only grow,” Joyce explained.
Today, the Perth-London Heathrow flight is scheduled to cover the 7,829nm journey in 17 hours and 20 minutes. It is the second-longest passenger flight in the world measured by distance. A return ticket is priced from about $1,300.
Qantas is configuring its 787-9s, which are powered by two GEnx-1B engines, in a ‘premium-heavy’ configuration seating 236 passengers, with 42 seats in business class in a 1-2-1 configuration offering direct aisle access for every passenger, 28 in premium economy laid out 2-3-2 across and 166 in economy in a 3-3-3 layout with 32in seat pitch.
Some 30 per cent of seats on the 787-9 are in business or premium economy, the highest percentage of any of aircraft type in the Qantas fleet.
And it would appear that premium mix is matching the demand for seats at the pointy end.
“It has more business class and premium economy seats than we’ve ever put on an aircraft and we are filling them,” Joyce said.
“The forward bookings in those are over 90 per cent and are very strong, so the economics of this route is looking very strong from day one.
“In fact, we think we will make money from the first day, which I have not actually seen in a new international route for a long time. So the economic is starting out immensely strong.”
The airline has also engaged experts from the University of Sydney’s Charles Perkins Centre, industrial designer David Caon and its own consulting chef Neil Perry to introduce a number of cabin and lounge features designed to help cope with the effects of jetlag.
“We are so looking forward to landing in London [after] 17 hours and 20 minutes on a game-changing aviation flight,” Joyce said.
QF9 is scheduled to land at London Heathrow at 0510 local time on Sunday March 25 2018.
