There had been a unique precedent in the history of the Australian airline Qantas. At 1989a Boeing 747-400 ran a non-stop service between London and London.Sydney. At the time, this single demonstration flight linked the two cities in 20 hours, 9 minutes and 3 seconds. At the time, the aircraft was powered by a special fuel and above all, its weight had been lightened. Instead of the usual 350 passengers, it carried just... 23!
Just over 28 years after that first flight, Qantas has done it again. On 25 March this year London Heathrow from Perth in Western Australia, the first commercial flight by Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner. A route covering a distance of 14,498 kmThe flight took 17 hours and 5 minutes.
Le Dreamliner has been configured for maximum passenger comfort, including in Economy class. The aircraft offers a three-class configuration - Business, Economy Premium and Economy - with a total capacity of 236 passengersless than on competing Boeing 787s.
Alan Joyce, CEO of Qantas pointed out that the new design of the Boeing 787 has been conceived to offer greater comfort for passengers on very long-haul routes. That's why we've incorporated features into our Economy seats that other airlines only offer in Premium Economy. Our Business Suite is often referred to as "Mini First Class by our passengers "he points out. In economy class, the Qantas B787 offers only 9 seats per row in a 3-3-3 configuration, with improved ergonomics.
we first want to make London-Perth a profitable route before moving on to Paris
Six Boeing 787-9s are being delivered this year and are being used on the Melbourne-Los Angeles route, or to expand the international network from Brisbane, the capital of Queensland.
On the plane that inaugurated the London-Perth route, Alan Joyce indicated that it had received the green light from the French authorities for the launch of a Perth-Paris on the basis of a daily flight. " We are certainly interested, but we first want to make London-Perth a profitable route before launching into Paris. In the past we have offered three weekly flights between Paris and Singapore, but at the time it was difficult to make such a route profitable. "he said. Have times changed?
