Qantas resumes non-stop flights to London
The daily QF9 ends its temporary Singapore stopover to dart directly to the UK.
By David Flynn, August 26 2024
Qantas is once again flying non-stop from Perth to London, ending a two-week diversion through Singapore to avoid Middle East airspace due to tensions in the region.
At 17h30m hours and almost 15,000km, the Perth-London marathon is Qantas’ longest flight – but early August saw the plane rerouted to include a refuelling stop in Singapore, after which it charted an alternative route to London as a “precaution,” Qantas said.
The return flight from London to Perth continued to run directly, while flights from Perth to Paris and Rome operated non-stop in both directions.
With Qantas keeping a keen eye on international flight paths, the weekend saw QF9 resume its globe-striding trek from Perth straight through to London assisted by prevailing eastbound winds.
A Qantas spokesperson said “favourable weather conditions” and the situation in parts of the Middle East made the change possible.”
“We monitor flight paths daily and make adjustments for a variety of reasons, including security and weather.”
This was the second time this year that conflict in the region forced QF9 into a Singapore stopover.
Long been considered one of the airline’s most successful and most profitable long-range routes, Qantas only restarted Perth–London flights in May 2022 after an extended pandemic pause.
The Perth-London flight joins Perth-Paris as Qantas’ two year-around non-stops to Europe, with seasonal flights to Rome set to return in June 2025.
Qantas has also tipped Athens and Germany as possible future European routes, along with Seattle and Las Vegas.
Also read: How to claim compensation for delayed, cancelled Qantas flights from London
18 Mar 2022
Total posts 17
Seattle so long as it is an early morning arrival to enable onward easterly connections to be made and arrival at the easterly destinations at a sensible time albeit probably late afternoon.
12 Feb 2014
Total posts 228
Just returned on QF2 from London. We took a v different route flying due east over Germany and then across the Black Sea north of Turkey and south of Ukraine. Paralleled the Himalayas before crossing the Indian Ocean. We avoided the Gulf completely I guess for obvious reasons.
Also we crossed the Australian coast at Port Headland before going South to Quorn and then east to Sydney. The Singapore to Sydney leg was only 6 and half hours. The anticipated flight time was so short they kept us in Singapore so that we didn’t break the 5 am Sydney curfew. I think the airlines have been allowed to choose the most favourable routes now according to prevailing winds? Normally the flight to Sydney is more over the NT and QLD?
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