David Eyre 
VH-ZND Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner (MSN 63390/669) of Qantas, in special Aboriginal 'Yam Dreaming' livery, named 'Emily Kame Kngwarreye', at Perth Airport – 24 March 2018. Photo © Richard Kreider. Photographed at Bay 20A, Terminal 3 at 6:16pm, prior to departing on the historic first direct Perth - London Heathrow QF9 service.
24 March 2019 © David Eyre
Qantas today celebrated the first anniversary since the commencement of direct Perth – London Heathrow services and CEO Alan Joyce says the service has proven the concept of a Western hub for nonstop flights between Australia and Europe.
Qantas data showed that from 1 April 2018 to 31 January 2019, the QF9/10 service carried 134,735 passengers, roughly equally split between the outbound QF9 and the inbound QF10. The flights achieved average load factors of 93 per cent and 95 per cent, respectively.
Perth – London Heathrow is the world’s third-longest nonstop flight by distance. It was one year ago today that Boeing 787-9 VH-ZND departed Perth on the inaugural QF9 service, which landed at London Heathrow around 17 hours later.
