Are you ready to spend 17 hours in the one aircraft seat?

Are you ready to spend 17 hours in the same economy class seat; travelling from Perth to London without a stop? 

Qantas has just announced the shortest and fastest version of the Kangaroo Route in its 70-year history, using a Qantas Dreamliner with Western Australia as a hub. 

The Australian flag carrier says the flights are "designed to offer improved comfort on long haul flights" from March 2018 and the flights will be among the longest in the world. 

Many flyers like to break up their journeys in either an Asian port like Singapore or Hong Kong, or, increasingly, in Abu Dhabi or Dubai. The new service will cater for those wanting to get to London in the quickest way possible. 

The flights from Perth to London will use a Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner over the 14,498 kilometre route.  

Qantas Group CEO Alan Joyce said the history-making route would be a watershed for travel, tourism and trade.

“When Qantas created the Kangaroo Route to London in 1947, it took four days and nine stops. Now it will take just 17 hours from Perth non-stop," he said.

“This is a game-changing route flown by a game-changing aircraft. Australians have never had a direct link to Europe before, so the opportunities this opens up are huge.

“It’s great news for travellers because it will make it easier to get to London. It’s great news for Western Australia because it will bring jobs and tourism. And it’s great news for the nation, because it will bring us closer to one of our biggest trade partners and sources of visitors.”

Joyce said passenger comfort on the long flight was a key consideration.

“When we designed the interior of our 787s, we wanted to make sure passengers would be comfortable on the extended missions the aircraft was capable of.

“That’s why we have features in our economy seats that other airlines reserve for premium economy. Our business suite has been nicknamed ‘mini first class’ by many of our frequent flyers. And we’re redesigning our on-board service to help reduce jetlag.” 

The enhanced Qantas cabin design is in addition to the comfort factors that Boeing built in to the Dreamliner – improved air quality, lower cabin noise and technology to reduce turbulence.

Mr Joyce said the direct route is expected to appeal to travellers on the East Coast as well as West Australians, helping to deliver a tourism boost.

“A direct flight makes travelling to Australia a much more attractive proposition to millions of people. We expect many travellers from Europe will start their time in Australia with a visit to Perth before going on to see other parts of the country.

“Our modelling shows that people from the East Coast, as well as South Australia, would fly domestically to Perth to connect to our non-stop London service. Some will take the opportunity to break their journey, whether it’s for business meetings in Perth, to holiday or to visit family.”

The new flight will operate through Qantas’ existing domestic terminals (T3/4), which will be upgraded to accommodate international flights. The airline’s current international services from Perth (to Singapore and to Auckland) will also move to this terminal, helping to simplify the journey for thousands of people every year. Qantas will move its operations to an expanded Terminal 1 at Perth Airport by 2025, pending a commercial agreement.

Flights will carry 236 passengers across business, premium economy and economy cabins.