17 hours and 14k km later, Australia-Britain flight makes history

The Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner used for the flight. Pic/AFP

The first non-stop scheduled flight from Australia to Britain landed in London on Sunday after a 17 hour, five minute journey across 14,875 km from Perth. The historic Qantas flight QF9, a Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner with more than 230 passengers and crew on board, touched down at 5.03 am, at Heathrow, reports the Guardian. The landing marked the first commercial passenger jet journey direct between Australia and Europe and has been described as a "game-changer" by some in the aviation industry.

The Dreamliner, which Qantas says has 20 per cent better fuel efficiency than similar-sized aircraft, covered the 14,875km with no major dramas. Passengers did have to endure a period of some turbulence as the plane skirted Cyclone Marcus, a storm off the west coast of Australia, shortly after take-off.

The flight will be the world's second-longest after Qatar Airways' route from Doha to Auckland, which spans 14,529km, according to the International Air Transport Association.

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