London-Sydney non-stop

Press, 26 September 1989, Page 29

London-Sydney non-stop

By

Barry Clarke

New Zealanders will be able to fly non-stop from Auckland to Los Angeles in the world’s fastest Jumbo jet from next February. Qantas has opted for the Auckland stop-over on its new Longreach 747-400 Jumbo jet flight between Melbourne and Los Angeles, ' giving Kiwi travellers the choice of

bypassing the usual Honolulu stop. Two flights will be made each week, complementing the three direct

747-400 flights a week from Sydney to Los

Angeles. ; Qantas is also scheduling the Jumbos to London, with three flights a week from Sydney and Melbourne via Singapore, starting from October 29. The new 400 s accomodate 376 passengers — 30 first class, 64 business and 282 economy. They have upgraded seats for better comfort.

The new jets will not fly through Christchurch, though a promotional flight recently completed the Sydney to Christ-

church journey in 2’/ 2 hours.

Last month, the 400 became the first commercial aircraft to fly nonstop from London to Sydney. Loaded with 376 passengers and up to 13 tonnes of cargo, the plane has a range of 12,700 km, 2400 km more than the range of the Qantas 747300 s.

Qantas has 12 of the new jets on order as part of a sAust6 billion reequipment programme which will nearly double the airline’s fleet over the next four years.