It is the sort of news that would make Captain James Cook - the great navigator who became the first European to map the east coast of Australia in 1770 - spit out his Earl Grey in a fit of bemusement.
Next spring will witness the first direct flight between the UK and Australia when - on Sunday March 25, at 1.30pm - Qantas service QF10 takes off from Heathrow, bound for Perth.
Unlike any air journey between the two countries at any time in the past, it will not stop anywhere en route, taking 17 hours to swap west London for Western Australia - not bad for a dash between two cities which are set 9,
cheap wholesale jordans,000 miles apart. Cook's voyage of "discovery" took three years (1768-1771).
Of course, this is not the first time a plane has journeyed all the way from Britain to the (inhabited) continent located furthest from English shores. The first Qantas "connection" between Australia and the UK was over eight decades ago,
Kicksokok.com, in 1935,
cheap jordans, while the first "Kangaroo Route" air link - the first service between the two nations by a single airline - took off in 1947.
How has aviation changed in the interim? Let's have a look by comparing all three...
Journey time
1935 – ,jordans for cheap;12 days
The first Qantas service from Brisbane to London took off from the Queensland capital on April 13 1935. It would require 12 days to make its journey of 12,753 miles,
cheap authentic jordans, and had to touch wheels on four continents. A wholly long-winded way to travel,http://www.markpreston.co.uk/dp/node/1#comment-480213cheapjordanshoesfreeshipping.com/bolg, certainly - but also a far swifter proposition that the six-week voyage passengers were used to.
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1947 – four days
Qantas's "Kangaroo Route" between Australia and the UK has become so emblematic that it inspired the airline's celebrated logo of the leaping marsupial. The first edition took off from Sydney, ultimately bound for London, on December 1 1947. "Ultimately", because, while a faster affair than the 1935 marathon, it was still quite the endeavour for those on board - four days of travel, and 55 hours of flying time.
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2018 – less than one day
17 hours, to be precise.
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Stops
1935 – 31
31 in total; an odyssey of myriad passport stamps. These included Darwin (Australia), Rambang (Indonesia), Singapore, Yangon (Myanmar - then Rangoon in Burma), Jodhpur (India), Karachi (Pakistan), Sharjah (now in the United Arab Emirates), Baghdad (Iraq), Cairo and Alexandria (both Egypt), Brindisi (Italy) and Paris (France) - before London. The leg between Brindisi and Paris added extra time - it was by train.
Singapore didn't look like this in 1935
Credit: Salvador III Manaois / Alamy
1947 – six
Six - a considerable reduction on 31, but still a meandering route which took in Darwin, Singapore, Calcutta (India - now Kolkata), Karachi, Cairo and Tripoli. There were overnight stays in both Singapore and the Egyptian capital.
They wouldn't stop in Libya any more
Credit: KOSSOWSKA.COM
2018 – none
None. No stopping in Singapore. No dallying in Dubai. Direct.
Price
1935 – ?10,834
A headline price of 281 Australian dollars, which works out as around ?166 sterling. However, this was a new and expensive way to cross the planet, so the cost is closer to present-day figures of around A$18,000 (?10,834).
1947 – ?21,000
A reasonable-looking fee of ?585 - although that equates to a 2017 sum of ?21,000 when adjusted for inflation. About 130 weeks' wages at the time.
2018 – ?690
Return tickets for the new Heathrow-Perth route are available from ?690. At time of writing, seats are still available (see
qantas.com) on the inaugural service from Heathrow for ?750 in economy,http://siemprelucenacf.es/index.php/component/user/?option=com_content&view=article&id=115cheapjordanshoesfreeshipping.com/bolg, ?1,http://www.mapsxm.com/search/node/cheapjordanshoesfreeshipping.com/bolg,576 in premium economy and from ?3,537 in business class. Return fares,
cheap jordans for sale, flying on the first Perth-bound service on March 25,
cheap jordans online, returning to the UK the following Sunday (April 1), are currently on sale for ?1,
jordan shoes,224.
London to Perth from ?690
Credit: Taras Vyshnya VladZetter@gmail.com/Taras Vyshnya
Aircraft
1935 – De Havilland 86 (and others)
The 1935 journey was effectively an early codeshare arrangement between the fledgling Qantas Empire Airways (the name the airline used when it was founded in 1934) and Imperial Airways (a forerunner of British Airways). It required several aircraft to make a series of short leaps. The Qantas legs (as far as Singapore) used a De Havilland 86 - a little workhorse which could accommodate just 10 passengers. Only 62 of these four-engine chuggers were constructed during its three years of manufacture (1934-1937), although there were three models. Eight of the planes were co-opted into the Royal Australian Air Force when the Second World War darkened the skies. Later legs of the journey used the Handley Page 42 and 45 - somewhat bigger bi-planes which could cope with slightly larger head-counts (24 and 38 passengers respectively).
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1947 – Lockheed Constellation
The Lockheed Constellation - a reliable propeller-driven upgrade on the De Havilland 86 which soared through the skies on four engines. It could welcome 29 passengers. Some 856 of the aircraft were made in Burbank, California, between 1943 and 1958, and although mainly used for civilian flights, it also lent its muscle to the "Berlin Airlift" - the post-war delivery of supplies to the blockaded capital of the new West Germany, which dominated headlines between June 1948 and September 1949. The Constellation was also a rather distinctive aircraft - thanks to its unusual triple tail-fin.
The Lockheed Constellation could welcome 29 passengers
Credit: getty
2018 – Boeing 787 Dreamliner
The direct Heathrow-Perth service will deploy the Qantas 787-9 Dreamliner - which offers 236 seats (divided between 42 business class flat-beds, 28 seats in premium economy and 166 in economy). The Qantas website waxes enthusiastically (and unsurprisingly) lyrical about the aircraft, calling it "the most advanced long-haul aircraft of its type", and explaining that the relatively small number of seats - "less than most other aircraft of its type" - is down to a desire "to provide optimal comfort and space for every passenger". It also has "state-of-the-art technology to reduce turbulence". Which is nice.
A Dreamliner will operate the first direct flight
Credit: aluxum/Monkeys
Flight attendants
1935 – None
None on the De Havilland 86. The Handley Page 45 which flew the route between Paris and London was a relative totem of luxury, in that it has on-board stewards.
A colourised image, courtesy of AirlineRatings.com, shows the cabin of a DH86
1947 – 11 (all male)
In a jump towards aviation luxury, 11 cabin crew worked on the route. All men.
2018 – Seven
To be confirmed - although the standard Australian ratio of one attendant for every 36 passengers would equate to seven cabin-crew members when services begin.
In-flight entertainment
1935
A rousing chorus of It's A Long Way To Tipperary...
Don't forget the song sheet!
Credit: AirlineRatings.com
1947
A rousing chorus of (There'll Be Bluebirds Over) The White Cliffs of Dover...
2018
Up-to-the-minute touch-screen seatback systems which, Qantas says, offer "thousands of hours of entertainment onboard". This is clearly a good thing on a flight of 17 hours. Put it this way - if the new Blade Runner 2049 film is one of the options when the first flight takes off, you will be able to watch all 163 minutes of it six (and a bit) times.
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Food and drink
1935
The co-pilot on the De Havilland 86 was also tasked with handing out sandwiches.
1947
A move towards proper catering which saw meals for passengers shipped ahead to scheduled stops. How fresh a dinner that would have taken the sea route to Darwin - the capital of the Northern Territory, which sizzles under a tropical sun - by the time its diner arrived is anyone's guess.
2018
Nowadays, Qantas has a partnership with Neil Perry, the Australian celebrity chef behind the feted Sydney restaurant Rock Pool. For passengers in business class, this means "Korean style yellowfin tuna tartare with sesame dressing". Those in the cheap(er) seats might expect "spiced lamb koftas with tomato" or "honey chicken salad with roasted vegetables and farro". What's farro? It's a classy way of saying "wheat".
1:06PM BST 15 May 2009
Major Angus Benson-Blair of the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards accepted the prestigious prize at a star-studded ceremony at London’s Royal Albert Hall.
He received rousing applause from the audience after thanking the country for getting behind Britain’s servicemen and women.
“The award is obviously about the album but I know everyone in the armed forces will see also each vote as supporting us in everything we do,” the senior officer said.
“So on behalf of every single soldier, sailor and airman I would like to say a huge and heartfelt thank you for every vote for the pipes and drums of the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards. Thank you so much.”
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