Qantas announced their first non-stop flight from Australia to the UK, with flights between Perth and London starting in 2018. And Sydney, after years of haggling, approved a new airport in the suburbs to supplement Kingsford International, which has been operating at capacity, giving new choices to travelers to down under!
When Qantas launched the “Kangaroo Route” between the United Kingdom in Australia in 1947, it took several stops and several days to travel the distance. Nowadays, you can fly the more than 14,000km with one stop, most conveniently in the Middle East, making it easier, but still a very long flight. With the introduction of the Boeing B787 Dreamliner, Qantas will be able to fly from Perth to London non-stop, making it one of the longest commercial flights available at 17 hours flight time! Flights will go on sale in April 2017 and start operating in March 2018!
And on the opposite coast of the Australian continent, Sydney will finally get a new airport. Sydney’s Kingsford International Airport is one of the oldest airports in Asia-Pacific and discussion about a new airport have been going on for decades. Now, the Turnbull government approved the Badgerys Creek airport in the Western suburbs, with one runway capable to handle Airbus A380 and 10 million passengers a year. It’s supposed to start operating in the mid 2020s, but no plans for a rail connection to the city and the environmental impact have been published. The airport is supposed to operate 24/7 – rather than being closed for overnight operations like the current one! If the progress to date is any indication, I wouldn’t hold my breath: Airports often face – understandably – lots of opposition from the people living in the immediate neighborhood and frequent delays, like Berlin’s new airport! But with airport in Asia-Pacific growing so rapidly, the infrastructure needs have to be addressed and this is a good step forward for Sydney!
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