Qantas is possibly the very first pioneer of long-haul flights on the global aviation stage. The airline worked on connecting Australia to London since its early days and has further specialised in connecting the country to major leisure and business destinations. That involves flying some of the longest routes in modern aviation. Furthermore, Qantas is planning to start by far the longest routes ever operated non-stop when project sunrise takes off (in 2025). Until then, let’s take a closer look at which are longest Qantas routes the airline is currently operating.
Which are Qantas Longest Routes?
The Aussie carrier in many cases has no option than operating ULR services to connect Australia’s major cities to the rest of the world. Many of Qantas’ international flights easily become some of the longest in the world due to the isolated location of the country.
| Flight | Route (Code) | Route | Distance (km) | Distance (nm) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| QF9 | PER-LHR | Perth – London Heathrow | 14,508 | 7,834 |
| QF21 | MEL-DFW | Melbourne – Dallas Fort-Worth | 14,475 | 7,816 |
| QF33 | PER-CDG | Perth – Paris CDG | 14,271 | 7,706 |
| QF3 | AKL-JFK | Auckland – New York JFK | 14,214 | 7,675 |
| QF5 | PER-FCO | Perth – Rome Fiumicino | 13,362 | 7,215 |
| QF93 | MEL-LAX | Melbourne – Los Angeles | 12,757 | 6,888 |
| QF11 | SYD-LAX | Sydney – Los Angeles | 12,061 | 6,512 |
| QF73 | SYD-SFO | Sydney – San Francisco | 11,949 | 6,452 |
| QF15 | BNE-LAX | Brisbane – Los Angeles | 11,532 | 6,227 |
| QF27 | SYD-SCL | Sydney – Santiago | 11,340 | 6,123 |
| QF63 | SYD-JNB | Sydney – Johannesburg | 11,023 | 5,952 |
At the moment, as we wait for Project Sunrise flights to commence operations, the longest Qantas commercial passenger flight is QF9. That is the service connecting daily Perth to London Heathrow. Close second is QF21, a US-bound flight, Melbourne to Dallas Fort-Worth. Third is a Qantas seasonal service, QF33, once again from Perth to Paris.
However, when Qantas finally gets its hands on those purpose made A350-1000ULRs and Project Sunrise finally gets the green light, these standings will change massively.
Among the first routes to be launched with the A350-1000ULRs is Sydney to London (non-stop). That flight would by far become the world’s longest with a total distance of just over 17,000 kilometers (or 9,188 nm). So, eyes peeled for new announcements regarding these new flights that will massively change Qantas’ longest flight standings.
Why Is the Airline Keen on These Super Long Flights?
But why is Qantas so keen on operating such long routes? The answer is quite simple. The airline by operating long direct and non-stop flights avoids stopovers en-route. That translates to some considerable time and money savings for the carrier.
By not having any stopovers the total flight time to get from point A to point B is shorter. While not landing in any foreign airport means less airport taxes and fees. The former is the most attractive prospect for Qantas as it could, despite carrying less passengers on these ULR flights due to weight limitations, increase operating margins by quite a bit.
However, I don’t think these super long flights will be quite common for some time into the future at least. Despite having the Airbus A350-1000ULRs bespoke made for these flights Qantas still must operate a premium heavy configuration so that the service makes sense financially. There is a limited number of routes that can sustain such premium heavy configurations. So, until technology makes another major leap forward, Qantas will remain the exception not the norm. That’s my opinion, time might prove me wrong.
