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Qantas ditches plan for non-stop UK flights
Qantas has ditched plans to fly non-stop between Australia and the UK after being unable to find suitable aircraft, the airline has said.
It admitted defeat after bids submitted by Boeing and Airbus to develop “hub-busting” aircraft were not economic. The carrier also conceded there may not have been sufficient demand to operate non-stop services.
Qantas had sought tenders from both manufacturers for ultra-long range Airbus A340 and B777 aircraft.
“Neither option provide an economical solution to our desire to have some of the our services overfly mid-point hubs,” said chief executive Geoff Dixon. “As well, our commercial people did not feel the savings in elapsed time between the non-stop and one-stop journey was great enough to appeal to a wide enough passenger base.”
It has been planning non-stop flights to London and New York.
He added that talks will continue with Airbus and Boeing on future developments of longer-range aircraft.
Meanwhile, the carrier has selected the Boeing 787 as the conerstone of its domestic and international renewal programme.
Under the deal it will take delivery of 65 Boeing 787s from 2008.
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