News Non-stop flight UK/AUS

[Notebook]

The evolution of UK-Australia travel into a single flight

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-australia-43453264

Qantas will begin the first non-stop flights between Australia and the United Kingdom on Saturday. The 17-hour trip is a departure from an era when glamorous perceptions masked the tedium of a days-long journey. Now, as Julian Lorkin reports from Sydney, much focus is on the body clock.

Must admit I thought it had already been done?

.

 

[Artlav]

17 hours on a plane, sitting in a seat too small to fit your legs?
Smokers have no where to smoke, internet addicts have no internet access, babies screaming as their parents get more and more irate, drunk people getting rowdy as the supply of alcohol thins?

People are going to die on that plane...

 

[Face]

It is interesting that Wikipedia talks about the maiden flight of that connection done on 25th March of 2017, not 2018. Typo on Wikipedia?

 

[Andy44]

Sounds miserable, but for me doing the trip in one leg with no layovers is less stressful than breaking it up. It's not like the stopovers in airports are actually any better for your body, aside from letting you stretch your legs a little more. Air travel is miserable enough as it is; just get me there as fast as possible and get it over with. I'll put in my earbuds and sleep off as much as I can.

I don't think we'll actually see SpaceX offering suborbital flights to Australia any time soon, but even if we did they would be super expensive compared to regular air fare, so we'll be stuck with 17 hours for the time being.

I have to say that it is pretty amazing to see this being done with a 2 engine jetliner; amazing how technology has advanced in recent years.

 

[tl8]

Normally this would be news in Australia, but there has been an incident on the cricket field.

Also worth pointing out, while this is a long and new flight path, it isn't the longest.

Auckland—Dubai is an extra 25 minutes. Although, I suspect that is in an A380.

What is interesting is that half the plane is business and first class. Which means the market is for that sort of travel.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-03-...rvive-epic-17-hours-on-board-aircraft/9572786

 

[Artlav]

I'll put in my earbuds and sleep off as much as I can.

And that's how people get thrombosis.

I have to say that it is pretty amazing to see this being done with a 2 engine jetliner; amazing how technology has advanced in recent years.

As great as it might be, almost no one notices that, since it costs the same, you are just as cramped in a tiny seat, and it's still not supersonic.

What is interesting is that half the plane is business and first class. Which means the market is for that sort of travel.

Why shouldn't there be? Plenty of people fly on corporate money, and given the length of the flight it shouldn't be too hard to justify the expense.

 

[Andy44]

Why shouldn't there be? Plenty of people fly on corporate money, and given the length of the flight it shouldn't be too hard to justify the expense.

Well there are no Concordes flying anymore for a reason, despite the airframes all having a significant amount of service life left. Part of that is political in nature, I am guessing, since Virgin Atlantic offered to buy/lease them and were told "No."

 

[Linguofreak]

I have to say that it is pretty amazing to see this being done with a 2 engine jetliner; amazing how technology has advanced in recent years.

My understanding is that it's more a matter of regulations catching up with technology. Jets had to deal with diversion time requirements originally developed for reciprocating engines for decades.

 

[Notebook]

Hurrah, they all landed safely(except for the Australian Cricket Team...)

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/world-43534734/australia-uk-passengers-welcomed-after-non-stop-flight

N.

 

[Notebook]

Qantas eyes non-stop London-Sydney flights

Must admit its the only way I would get to Australia. Unless I could afford a cruise!

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-45568179

 

[tl8]

Must admit its the only way I would get to Australia. Unless I could afford a cruise!

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-45568179

It will happen once they get the right plane. Qantas will be much happier not having to stop at UAE or Singapore. That said, going to be a looonnngggg flight.

 

[Notebook]

Indeed, don't think I could do it now. Didn't enjoy it much when I did a few trips to the US, and that was only 7 hours.

N.

 

[MikeB]

That's a long time in a seat. In 1977 I flew Sydney to LAX non-stop in a 747-SP. We were delayed on the ground while some sort of work was being done on the plane. Eventually, the captain made the announcement: "The mechanics are repairing one of the toilets. We're going to be in the air for 11 hours, and we're not leaving until all the restrooms are working!"

 

[ADSWNJ]

I just did Singapore to New York on Singapore Air: 23 hours, with a 2 hour layover in Frankfurt. Same plane, same seat ... just needed filling up (and emptying other bits!), security scan, and a refresh of the food and away we went.

Business class, so not too bad ... some work, lots of movies, and trying to pre-adjust to a 12 hour timezone difference , to be ready to work on landing. (23:55 local take off from Singapore = noon NY, and then landing at 11:10 local NY the next day). Fun times!

 

[Notebook]

Another longest flight....


https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-45795573

he battle to offer the world's longest non-stop flight steps up a gear on Thursday, when a new Singapore-to-New York service takes off.
Singapore Airlines is relaunching the service five years after they withdrew it because it had become too expensive.
It will cover more than 15,000km and is scheduled to take just under 19 hours.
Qantas launched a 17-hour non-stop service from Perth to London earlier this year, while Qatar runs a 17.5-hour service between Auckland and Doha.

 

[Notebook]

Well, it got there.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-45834964