Airline route maps from the past can be quite fascinating when you see the various destinations once served. The Qantas 1973 route map is one of the more interesting ones, showing an airline very different from today.
Back in the 1970s, aircraft had limited range which resulted in journeys having multiple stops for refueling. Naturally that meant a bunch of places were visited out of necessity. You could often buy tickets there as well, making for some exotic holiday options.
Qantas 1973 Route Map
The Australian airline flew around the world from 1958 onwards, starting with Super Constellations but eventually transitioning to the Boeing 707, becoming the third airline to fly jets across the Atlantic in the process. One interesting aspect about Qantas is that it named its various routes.
Perhaps the most famous is the Kangaroo Route, for services from Australia to the UK via Asia and the Middle East. Looking at the map, you can see Delhi served, followed by Teheran, with flights continuing from there to Vienna, Rome or London. Obviously the political situation in Iran was quite different back then, making it a feasible place to stop.
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- Around the world in 1973.
The Wallaby Route connected Australia to South Africa via the Indian Ocean from 1952. Originally Cocos (Keeling) Islands were served on the way to Mauritius back in the Connie days, but you can see above the stop has been eliminated. Today flights skip Mauritius as well. Next up is the Southern Cross route from Australia to the USA via Nadi and Honolulu. It’s a non-stop flight these days, but both Fiji and Hawaii remain on the network in their own right.
Last, but certainly not least, is the Fiesta Route operated from 1964 to 1975. This set of destinations has to be the most unusual of all, flying from Sydney to London via Fiji, Tahiti, Mexico, The Bahamas and Bermuda. Now that’s a trip I’d love to do! None of these are served today by Qantas, of course.
Overall Thoughts
How times change! The 1973 Qantas route map is filled with places no longer served by the Australian airline in its own right. From Vienna to Damascus to Acapulco to Nassau, these days you’ll need to connect on a partner airline to get there.
Economics and improved aircraft range spelled the end of most of the stations previously served. I imagine I would have preferred more direct flights, but it’s nice to imagine what it must have been like back in the day. I know the crews really enjoyed all the stops, so perhaps some passengers did too.
What do you think of the 1973 Qantas route map? Did you ever fly to any of these places with the Aussie carrier back in the day? Thank you for reading and if you have any comments or questions, please leave them below.
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Featured image via Qantas.
Route map via Caribb on Flickr.
I love old route maps. Actually, new ones too. It’d be fascinating to see the routes Qantas flew when they were an all 747 airline.
There’s an idea! I’ll have to find a route map from the 1979-1985 period 🙂
I wonder how many jet-setters (remember THAT term!) took their sweet time getting from London to Sydney on the Fiesta Route? Probably with more than a few stopover R&Rs on the way. Some of it kind of makes sense: Bermuda and Nassau obvious UK connection, Mexico City maybe had some traffic to OZ, there were one-stop options to London though at the time. Acapulco was THE place for the rich and famous in Mexico at the time, and the South Pacific had it’s fans as well. I agree, I would have to take a few weeks to make that journey,… Read more »
I’d say people would have stopped at least once if they had time, quite possibly twice. It was an interesting route that one! I’d love to spend a few weeks hopping along it myself, as all the places on it are ones I wouldn’t mind visiting. If only I had been born 40 years earlier – hopefully by the 1960s I might have been able to afford that to do that trip!
You could probably skip Acapulco these days but I was there at 4 with my Mom in 1969. Don’t remember a thing but she said I was the hit of the resort. I had to take her word for it!
Yes, from what I hear things have changed there since. Haha – nice to hear you were a popular toddler on vacation!!