Qantas passes aviation milestone with direct Perth-London flight

Qantas Chief Executive Officer Alan Joyce is betting he can make money from the daily service by stripping excess weight from a Boeing Co. Dreamliner

Qantas Airways is starting direct flights between Australia and London this weekend, passing a major milestone by reducing to 17 hours a trip that once took 12 1/2 days.

The 14,498-kilometre (9,000-mile) flight from Perth, one of the world’s most isolated cities, marks the first direct passenger service between the continents. It puts Europe’s financial center one night’s sleep from the capital of Australia’s mineral wealth and the operations of resources companies including BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto Group — both listed in Australia and the UK.

For Qantas, the Perth connection is a high-profile test for a planned ultra long-haul network