In The Independent today. This is an extract with the story here:
First UK-Australia non-stop flight schedule revealed | The Independent
Starting 26 March 2018, a Boeing 787-9 twin jet will leave London Heathrow at around 10am, for a noon arrival next day in Perth.
The 17-hour flight officially covers 9,009 miles, but in practice the distance will be higher depending on winds and geo-political considerations; the most direct route passes over the disputed Crimea region of Ukraine.
The “Great Circle” track between the two cities crosses the Caucasus and Iran, then follows the western coast of India to Sri Lanka, which is 5,400 miles from London. The remaining 3,600 miles, about the same as from Heathrow to New York, crosses the Indian Ocean.
Lunch service will begin over Germany, with dinner over the Arabian Sea portion of the Indian Ocean. Passengers will be served breakfast two hours before touchdown at Perth.
After the longest flight from the UK, passengers are likely to be desperate to get off. But some of them will be able to stretch their legs only briefly before re-boarding the plane, which will continue to Melbourne, four-and-a-half hours further on. Connections will be available to Adelaide, Canberra and Sydney.
The return flight to London is expected leave Melbourne at around 7pm and Perth soon after 10pm.
The westbound journey will take an hour longer because of the prevailing headwinds, giving an arrival around 7am in London. It is believed Qantas already owns the Heathrow slots that permit such a pattern.
The “Dreamliner” used for the ultra-long route will have 42 business class “suites”, 28 premium economy seats and 166 economy seats.