Qantas is expected to see overwhelming demand for its new 16 to 18-hour non-stop service between London and Perth after it goes on sale on Thursday, April 27.
The first flight in the 236-seat Boeing 787-9 will take off from Perth, Western Australia at 6:50pm on Saturday, March 24, 2018 and arrive at London’s Heathrow Airport at 5:10am the next day.
Read: Qantas announces stunning new premium economy
And yesterday, Qantas chief executive Alan Joyce told Airlineratings.com that non-stop flights to Berlin, Rome and Paris were the next routes on the Qantas radar.
The fares for the London non-stop service are “very competitive”, say travel agents.
Economy class return fares start from AUD$2270, with premium economy from AUD$4,250 return and business class from AUD$9725 return.
However, that is expected to fall below AUD$2000 during sale periods.
Luke Chittock, from Amity Travel, expects “demand for the service to be high, particularly in the premium cabins.
“With increased security around the world, more and more passengers are asking for non-stops,” Chittock said.
Qantas chief executive Alan Joyce said that the Boeing 787 non-stop service “brings a level of convenience Australians have never had before.”
“We’ve said the Qantas Dreamliner is a game changer, and that’s now becoming real,” Joyce said.
“The Kangaroo Route has kept changing with new technology. It used to take four days and seven stops but now we’re able to link Australia and UK in a single hop.”
Commenting on the length of the flight, Joyce said the airline was “conscious that this is a long flight, but not much longer than our Sydney to Dallas service.”
“It’s the kind of route that the Dreamliner was created for, because of its built-in features to reduce jet lag and improve the overall travel experience,” he said.
“We’ve added a very high level of comfort in each of the cabins and a lower seat count than most of our competitors. And we’re making tweaks to our in-flight service designed to help customers enjoy the journey more.”
Direct Perth-London flights will be on sale by 9.30am Perth, WA, time.
Read: Qantas to axe Melbourne to London A380 flights.
Backing up the sales, Qantas has expanded its marketing partnership with Tourism Western Australia to maximise the tourism benefits of the new service and will make the Perth-London service the focus of the next phase of its “Feels Like Home” advertising campaign launching this weekend.
The campaign will also run in the UK.
Since launching in 2014, the Feels Like Home adverts have clocked up over 17 million views on social media channels alone.
“The publicity this route has already had since we announced it has been huge. It’s been global. It’s great for Qantas and for Australian aviation, but a world-first route like this is also great exposure for Western Australia,” Joyce said.
”We’ve created an international marketing campaign specifically around this service, featuring some beautiful parts of Perth.
”We’ll work with Tourism WA to make sure millions of people around the world see it.
“I’d like to acknowledge the fantastic support of the WA Government as well as Perth Airport and the Federal Government in helping with the infrastructure that will make this world-first service possible.”
