Kangaroo-Route

The Kangaroo Route is one originally used by the airline Qantas, now a general term for flight routes from Europe to Australasia.

General

The name " Kangaroo Route" arises from the fact that, to date at least one intermediate stop on this route is necessary (similar to the bounce of a kangaroo ) and kangaroos occur in nature only in Australasia. At their home, and the historic importance of this route for the airline Qantas might explain a kangaroo in their logo.

Theoretically, the flights on this route with ultra long-range aircraft such as the Airbus A380, Airbus A340, the Boeing 777 or the Boeing 747 could be carried out without stopping what Qantas with a specially prepared Boeing 747-400 on 16-17. August 1989 also once performed. However, the line operation would be uneconomic, and the resulting time savings of 1-2 hours is not much difference compared to usual today 22 hours.

The stops are mostly held in Asia, such as Singapore, Hong Kong, Bangkok, Taipei, Shanghai and Beijing. Meanwhile, however, also serve the airlines Etihad, Emirates and Qatar Airways this route, with a stop at its hubs Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Doha.

Since especially in Australia and New Zealand, large parts of the population are of European descent, the operation of the Kangaroo route at resident Airlines is responsible for a large part of the profit.

History

Already in 1935, Qantas began offering flights from Australia to Singapore. Based in Singapore, there was again connecting flights from Imperial Airways to London. Served for the first time without a change of aircraft was the Kangaroo route but only on 1 December 1947 by Qantas on the route from Sydney to London, then with stops in Darwin, Singapore, Calcutta, Karachi, Cairo and Tripoli and two nights. The price for round -trip was 585 pounds, which corresponded to the then average wage of 130 working weeks.

From January 1958 Qantas offered as an alternative to Kangaroo route, the " Southern Cross Route", which led from Australia across the Pacific and North America to Europe. In 1964 a further alternative, the "Fiesta Route" was offered which led over Tahiti, Mexico and the Caribbean to Europe. In the 1970s, however, the "Fiesta Route" and the trans-Atlantic flights from Qantas was reinstated, with the " Southern Cross Route" is still used today, such as Air New Zealand offered.

Qantas used the beginning of the jet age in 1959 for the first time the Boeing 707 on the route, 1971, the Boeing 747 through the use of these aircraft, the required travel time, number of stops, and hence the cost decreased. Since the flight tickets were cheaper, the air traffic on this route was now accessible to more passengers and Qantas got on the Kangaroo route for the first time serious competition from other airlines.

Since 19 January 2009, the Airbus A380 used on this route, including Qantas.

Today the Kangaroo route is offered by more than 25 airlines, including Qantas, Air New Zealand, British Airways, Cathay Pacific, China Eastern, Korean Air, Qatar Airways, Singapore Airlines and Thai Airways.