CANBERA (dpa-AFX) - Australia's flag carrier Qantas Airways Ltd. (QAN.AX, QUBSF.PK) on Tuesday took delivery of its first Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner aircraft, noting that the game-changing aircraft will open up new routes and new levels of comfort for travelers.
A total of eight Dreamliners will be delivered to Qantas by the end of 2018, enabling the airline to retire five of its Boeing 747 aircraft. The new aircraft will enable Qantas to operate Australia's first regular non-stop flights to Europe.
'The Dreamliner makes routes like Perth to London possible, which will be the first direct air link Australia has ever had with Europe. And it means other potential routes are now on the drawing board as well,' Qantas Group CEO Alan Joyce said in a statement.
In December 2016, Qantas said it will operate non-stop flights from Perth to London using the Dreamliner aircraft. The airline noted that the 14,498 kilometer service will be the first regular passenger service to directly link Australia with Europe, when it begins in March 2018.
The non-stop flight will take approximately 17 hours. It is expected to appeal to travelers on Australia's East Coast and also help deliver a tourism boost.
Previously, Australians have never had a direct link to Europe. When Qantas created the Kangaroo Route to London in 1947, it took four days and nine stops to complete the journey.
Qantas has announced two Dreamliner routes so far - Melbourne to Los Angeles starting in December this year, and Perth to London starting in March next year. The airline is also exploring additional flights from Brisbane.
At a ceremony at the Boeing factory in Seattle, Qantas CEO Joyce said Tuesday that the first Dreamliner signaled the start of an exciting new era for the national carrier and for the traveling public.
The airline has chosen the name 'Great Southern Land' for the first Dreamliner aircraft out of 45,000 suggestions from the traveling public.
The Dreamliner is painted in Qantas' updated livery, first revealed in late 2016 in preparation for new aircraft entering the fleet and the airline's centenary in 2020.
Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX