Will we soon be flying nonstop from London to Sydney in a single day?
It looks that way — at least Qantas CEO Alan Joyce is hoping.
Talking to AFP news agency, Joyce said plans to launch the first of 25 long-haul flights from Australia to the UK by 2020, the first of them between Sydney and London, could be brought forward.
An ultra long-haul flight could one day offer passengers a round trip of more than 6,000 miles. Qantas’ new plan calls for the flights to leave Sydney at 6am and arrive in London by 5.30pm.
But then Joyce talked about the possibility of taking it even further — even as far as Tokyo.
He said: “We could fly nonstop from London to Tokyo in two-and-a-half hours.
“The combination of Dubai and London means we can get to either Tokyo or Singapore as a hub-like operation and operate longer haul.”
Today’s Federal Government spending plans would lead to a loss of 150,000 jobs, forecast Thomas Ang. https://t.co/rDRTVyqyGT pic.twitter.com/2unZxpV9cc — RTÉ News (@rtenews) May 12, 2016
He said Qantas was examining not only its long-haul options but its ability to improve connections.
Joyce, meanwhile, warned that unless Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull’s changes to the immigration system come into force, there would be a $1.4 billion loss of jobs within a few years.
Minister for Immigration Scott Morrison said this morning that the government would announce its plans before the end of the week.
Minister for Jobs Michaelia Cash says immigration is a big thing for people’s jobs. https://t.co/xx9xRCgrAE pic.twitter.com/EVAGJxbBKU — RTÉ News (@rtenews) May 13, 2016
Joyce told the Australian Financial Review: “If the government implements its reduction in immigration without the help of international air carriers, then passenger numbers on our trans-Tasman route would be falling.”
He said this would inevitably lead to job losses in both the Australian and New Zealand markets.
Joyce said such reductions would occur faster and would mean a greater loss of jobs and economic benefits across both countries.
Minister for jobs Michaelia Cash told the Australia Network in Asia that air carriers such as Qantas are “part of the Australian economy”.
“Qantas is a big part of our economy – we will look at increasing foreign investment from Australian airlines and we will also consider a partnership with an international airline in the Asian market that would strengthen our presence in that region,” she said.
Meanwhile, at the same time as Joyce’s comments about his company’s growth, Joyce revealed that the airline had suspended its popular “quiet flights” last week, and passengers faced a very noisy flight.
He said more than half the passengers complained about the noise and disruptive behaviour from the other passengers.
Joyce warned that Qantas would not tolerate passengers using the airline as “party mode” on trans-Tasman journeys.
Topics: travel-and-tourism, government-and-politics, social-media, united-kingdom, australia
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