AUSTRALIAN airline Qantas has opened bookings for the first ever non-stop flight from the UK to Australia – with prices starting at £1,095 for a return ticket.
Travellers will be able to fly from London’s Heathrow to Perth without a stop-over on the 17-hour flight.
Economy fares for the London-Perth route will start from a whopping £1,095, while the London-Melbourne will cost from £1,115 when tickets go on sale.
Qantas said these prices are expected to “drop below £900 return during deal periods”.
Travellers can currently buy return flights to Perth with a stopover for around half the price, at around £600 return.
The non-stop flights are pricier in part due to the extra cost of carrying more fuel.
Daily flights to Oz on Qantas’ new Boeing 787-Dreamliner will begin March 25 next year, but tickets for the London to Perth route go on sale today.
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Alan Joyce, CEO of Qantas Group said: “We’ve said the Qantas Dreamliner is a game changer, and that’s becoming real today.
“The Kangaroo Route has kept changing with new technology. It used to take four days and seven stops but now we’re able to link the UK and Australia in a single hop.
“It’s a level of convenience those in Europe have never had before.
“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.”
These features include responsive cabin lighting to stimulate sunrise and gently wake customers on morning flights.
Joyce said direct routes tended to stimulate new travel demand by making it easier to get to a destination – something that will benefit the Australia’s economy and tourism.
Qantas said the 14,498km flight would be the third-longest passenger flight in the world, behind the Qatar Airways flight from Doha in Qatar to Auckland in New Zealand which covers a distance of 14,535km.
If you want to fly to Australia in style, this simple trick will give you a first class ticket for almost the same price as an economy one.
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