The Australian airline, which is nicknamed “the flying kangaroo,” announced the new route will begin on December 2, 2022 and will be serviced by Boeing 787 Dreamliners. Customers continuing on to other cities in North America can connect with Qantas partner American Airlines, which has a major hub at DFW.
Though Qantas offers several long-haul flights to the United States, this is the first time in history that a commercial airline has organized a nonstop between Dallas and Melbourne.
“No city in the world did it tougher during Covid than Melbourne, but no city is bouncing back as quickly,” Qantas group chief customer officer Stephanie Tully said in a press statement.
She added: “We are seeing really strong demand from Melburnians wanting to travel overseas for a holiday or business trip after two years at home.”
Australia began slowly reopening its borders to fully vaccinated international travelers in February.
The MEL-DFW direct route clocks in around the 17-hour mark, which will add it to the list of the world’s longest flights. Tickets for the inaugural flight are on sale now.
Currently, the longest passenger flight in the world runs between Singapore and JFK on Singapore Airlines. It covers 9,534 miles and spends about 18 hours in the air.
Australia’s national flag carrier, which celebrated its 100th birthday in 2020, has made no secret of its desire to push the boundaries of long-haul travel.
During the pandemic, Qantas, like many airlines around the world, got creative in order to stay afloat and keep staff employed.