Qantas close to striking deal on direct flights from London to Australia – which could be launched next year
The Perth-London journey would be the world's longest non-stop flight
IT could be possible to fly direct from London to Australia this time next year.
Bosses at Qantas and Perth Airport are expected to strike a deal within days, allowing the airline to move forward with plans for the world's longest non-stop flight.
The 14,466-kilometre flight would take 17 and a half hours.
Flights could start by Christmas 2017 once Qantas takes delivery of its first long-range Boeing 787 Dreamliners, according to Aussie media.
The West Australian newspaper reported Qantas chief Alan Joyce was close to making a deal with Perth airport officials to allow passengers to board the 787 for London from the airport’s domestic terminal, making the transfer easier for passengers arriving from Sydney and Melbourne.
The breakthrough came after discussions between the two parties became tense over the cost of upgrades needed for terminals 3 and 4 at Perth Airport.
The improvements are expected to cost somewhere between £15 million and £16.5m - and last week a spokesman for Perth Airport claimed Qantas were refusing to pay a penny towards it.
The longest non-stop passenger route so far is an Emirates Airlines 14,200-kilometre Dubai-to-Auckland flight started in March 2016, which takes 16 hours 35 minutes in an Airbus A380.
That beat the previous non-stop record held by the Qantas Dallas-Sydney route that takes 17 hours to fly 13,800 kilometres.
The move is expected to pave the way for more direct flights between Australia and Europe - to Paris, Rome and Frankfurt.