The Kangaroo route is mythical: from London to Sydney, it was originally a flight with many stopovers, like the international routes of the Air France network in the past.

Singapore has long been the flagship stop on this route for many airlines, including British Airways and Qantas, whose presence in the oneworld alliance has long facilitated cooperation.

But very recently, thanks to the arrival of the Boeing 787-9 in the Qantas fleet, the latter announced the opening of direct, non-stop service between Perth and London in early 2018.

Is 17 hours without moving realistic?

At TravelGuys, we are skeptical. And we are not the only ones, the passengers too. Proof of this are the various experiments carried out by airlines in recent years.

Would you be able to travel in economy class for more than 17 hours in a space of less than 1m3? Me who is 1m89 and Bertrand who is 1m92, no.

In fact, the most recent failure, Singapore Airlines, which operated a flight from Singapore to Newark, understood this. It operated an A340-500 inall-businessconfiguration. For this reason of course, but also to lighten the aircraft and thus increase its range.

The endless Business cabin of the Singapore Airlines A340-500 operating between Newark and Singapore.

However, even if the Business cabin is the most profitable for an airline, can it fill a plane just with this clientele? It depends on the routes of course, between Paris/London and New York, maybe once a day, yes… But not between Singapore and New York, Newark being, moreover, quite far from the city.

It’s not for nothing that the Gulf companies are taking a good part of the markets? Cutting the flight short, even when seated in premium class, is quite pleasant for some passengers.

Is the partnership between Qantas and Emirates in danger?

Surprisingly enough, despite being part of oneworld, Qantas announced a massive partnership with Emirates in mid-2012. From now on, all its flights to Europe will stop over in Dubai, and largecode-sharesare being set up. A synergy of loyalty programs is developed.

With its plans for direct flights, is this partnership compromised? For the moment, it is difficult to know. Qantas does not intend to serve the whole of Europe with direct flights. Whatever one may say, Australia is not a rapidly developing business destination. Its economy is declining as much as that of the European states. The reason the partnership with Emirates works so well is that Emirates brings the whole world to Dubai, which eventually leaves on Qantas flights.

To be continued, but the impacts should be limited.

London-Sydney could change the game…

If Perth remains a secondary destination in Australia, the arrival of a London-Sydney route could change the situation.

Two major business destinations to fill the front classes, and a large diaspora present in both countries. Nothing better to fill a flight in all its classes and every day of the year.

And Qantas says it is considering the flight, which would last, brace yourself, 20 hours and 20 minutes. And asked Airbus and Boeing to look into the matter.

After all, it is always this question of range that is most important: filling an aircraft in a classic configuration with more and more fuel.

Bottom line

If Ultra Long Haul flights can have a market, it remains very limited and subject to the willingness of passengers to travel for so long in a metal tube. At TravelGuys, we remain very skeptical on the issue.