Qantas is eyeing direct flights from Australia's eastern
coast to London and New York by 2022, the carrier announced in its fiscal year
2017 earnings report.
While a flight of that distance is not possible with any
current aircraft at full passenger and luggage capacity, the carrier has challenged
both Boeing and Airbus to make it possible with their next-generation aircraft
under development. Direct flights, which would cut about three hours on a
Melbourne-New York route and four hours on a London-Sydney route, would
"be revolutionary for air travel in Australia," according to CEO Alan
Joyce.
"From next year, we'll be flying direct from Perth to
London, which is a huge step forward," he said. "We believe advances
in technology in the next few years will make Sydney to London direct a
possibility, and Qantas is well-placed to be the airline to do it."
Qantas reported that net passenger revenue declined 1
percent year over year to A$13.86 billion for the fiscal year, which ended June
30. Capacity increased 1 percent year over year, and traffic increased 2
percent.
Qantas'
underlying pretax profit was $1.4 billion, the second-highest level in the company's
97-year history. It was down 8.6 percent from the record level set in the 2016
fiscal year.