Richard Kreider was aboard the historic first direct Perth to London QF9 service by Qantas Boeing 787 Dreamliner VH-ZND on 24-25 March 2018 and kindly supplied this article.

Copyright © Richard Kreider – 26 March 2018

FROM FRIENDSHIP 7 TO QF9: A QANTAS LEAP FOR PERTH

The tag ‘tyranny of distance’ which is used ad nauseum to describe Perth’s location to the rest of the world has effectively been vaporised like a Dreamliner contrail. This is because the city has been become much closer following the introduction of the momentous non-stop flight to the United Kingdom on Saturday 24 March 2018.

Perhaps the first time Perth made global headlines was in February 1962, when US astronaut John Glenn announced that he had seen Perth at night as his Friendship 7 capsule whizzed over at 28,000 kilometres per hour. “The lights show up very well and thank everybody for turning them on will you,” said Glenn to Colonel Gordon Cooper, a US astronaut who was at Muchea ground station in Western Australia. The phrase ‘City of Light’ has stuck ever since.

Fast forward 56 years and non-stop flights from Perth to London sees in a new era in passenger travel, and with so many ex-pats in WA especially, Qantas know they’re on to a good thing.

The inaugural trip on Saturday 24th March 2018 was a wonderful experience to be a part of – I, for one, will never forget it.

Given the importance of the occasion, Qantas had a second Dreamliner waiting at Perth on standby, in case the first was unable to depart.

The crew comprised of Captains Lisa Norman and Jeffrey Foote, First Officer David Summergreene and Second Officer Troy Lane.

Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner VH-ZND is named ‘Emily Kame Kngwarreye‘, to honour the Aboriginal artist who painted ‘Yam Dreaming’, upon which the aircraft’s special livery is based.

Aboard the aircraft for the first QF9 Perth – London service were 229 passengers and crew. The aircraft had a take-off weight of 253.5 Tonnes (only half a Tonne under the Maximum Take-Off Weight limit), and of this, 100.6 Tonnes (nearly 40% of the actual take-off weight) was fuel.

QF9 made the entire 14,500 kilometre (9,000 mile) journey from Perth to London in darkness, taking off at 7:00pm local time it touched down at London-Heathrow seven minutes early.

Our first ‘blip’ after take-off was a period of turbulence, courtesy of Cyclone Marcus, which delayed the drinks trolley. Yeah, I know, tragic!

Eventually the seatbelt sign went off and I got my Bloody Mary, as people like Qantas captain Lisa Norman and Premier Mark McGowan sauntered down the aisles, chatting to anyone willing to have a conversation.

Copious cameras of all shapes and sizes wandered up and down the aircraft throughout the journey, but my wife Elaine and I succeeded in avoiding all of them each time a reporter wanted to ask people about their thoughts on such a pioneering event. Even CNN’s money man Richard Quest went on the prowl with a GoPro-like camera.

Not being a good sleeper on planes, I watched several of the copious video programmes available on the Inflight Entertainment System, my main movie choice being Goodbye Christopher Robin.

Just over an hour into the trip, the turbulence was behind us and we were cruising beautifully, and it didn’t take long to understand why these aircraft are called Dreamliners.

The first meal came at 10pm Perth time, consisting of choices like cheese ravioli with leek and mushroom cream sauce, or chicken with vegetables – washed down with Rymill Coonawarra ‘The Gold Trader’ Chardonnay. Very enjoyable for us economy plebs. Dessert was a Wicked Sister delight called Panna Cotta Mango and Passionfruit. Delightful!

Midnight (five hours into the flight) and many people were now trying to sleep, although some identities talked to those passengers who were still awake.

Our next meal was a streaky bacon with bush tomato relish baguette. (I missed the Weis ice-cream some time earlier, as I had managed to doze off for an hour or two).

After initially cruising at 38,000 feet, we climbed another 2,000 feet as we pushed towards Europe, left of Trabzon in Turkey – averaging over 900 km/h ground speed.

A nice omelette landed on our laps 1hr 20 min before landing, which served as a breakfast meal. The other option was a really fresh looking fruit platter.

‘Yam Dreaming’ crossed the English coast at 4:40am (London time), confirming we were actually going to reach our destination in one hop. Captain Jeffrey Foote later announced that they (the pilots) had been getting congratulatory messages from air traffic control towers in every airspace zone along the way.

Moments before landing, QF CEO Alan Joyce was next on the PA from his closeted location deep within the bowels of business class, commending us for being part of aviation history. “Today we are on this amazing historic flight, which is the fastest between Australia and the UK that has ever occurred. So congratulations on this amazing occasion.” He also wanted everyone to thank the Qantas staff by giving a round of applause,(we didn’t need prompting because they were going to receive the accolades anyway). The staff were amazing – obviously the best of the best for this particular occasion.

The undercarriage was lowered at 4:59 am and touchdown into the history books came four minutes later, at 5:02am, on runway 09R at London-Heathrow, triggering a deafening cheer from those aboard. Total flight time was 17 hours 2 minutes.

“It gives me the greatest pleasure to say welcome to the United Kingdom, the eyes of the world are on us today,” said Captain Norman as we taxied towards Heathrow’s Terminal 4.

In terms of a personal experience, my gripes were minor. Very minor.

A cute little Dreamliner cushion and blanket got in the way, but they were shoved under the seats (which had sufficient knee space for me). The aisle seat headphone jack is big and has to be inserted at the front of your left-hand armrest. It can be damaged quite easily if you forget it’s there each time you climb in and out of your seat. (I did see two damaged headsets).

There was no duty free on board, but prices these days are not far from what shops charge anyway.

All in all, if I had to wrap up a 17+ hour experience into just one word, it would be, phenomenal.

Perth had moved on from being a city of lights, to become a city of dreams.