The Qantas service from Perth to London Heathrow is reported to be a raging success. Clocking in at around 18 hours each way, it is the third longest flight in the world.
Launched six months ago with brand new Boeing 787-9 Dreamliners, it became the first non-stop service between Australia and Europe. How successful has it been?
Success By Numbers
Featuring three classes – business, premium economy and economy – the Qantas aircraft seats a total of 236 passengers. In the time the service has been operating, the load factor or amount of seats occupied is 92%.
When counting just the premium classes, this increases to 94%. According to an article by Geoffrey Thomas in The West Australian, this is the highest of any of the international routes operated by Qantas.
It is heartening to see the success of this route. More Boeing 787s are due to arrive at Qantas, allowing the withdrawal of the Boeing 747s and opening up of more routes. Perth to Paris non-stop is apparently tipped to be the next on the list.
Overall Thoughts
Australian’s have embraced the new service and what is interesting is that 78% of the passengers terminate in Perth. The service is actually a Melbourne-Perth-London but it seems Western Australia is filling it very well.
All of this bodes well for Project Sunrise, the plan for Airbus or Boeing to offer an ultra-long haul aircraft to Qantas. This will enable the airline to open up non-stop services from Australia’s east coast to London and New York.
Have you flown on the service between Perth and London with Qantas? What did you think? Thank you for reading and if you have any comments or questions, please leave them below.
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Featured image by Mertie via Wikimedia Commons.
Emily Kame Kngwarreye 787 via FishyCookies on Pinterest.
