Originally Posted by
srbrenna
I first went to Australia in 1988. I flew in Garuda as it was a mere £800 as opposed to BA/Qantas who charged £1,300. The route was LHR-FRA-AUH-SIN-CGK-DPS-MEL-SYD!
Interesting. You paid the equivalent in today's money of just over £2000 in 1988. I first flew to Australia in 2004. My non-refundable return (paper-issued) ticket on SIA cost £550 but allowed unlimited changes with no change fees or fare differences to pay. That's equivalent to £919 in today's money for a semi flexible ticket. Routeing LHR-SIN-MEL return.
I was back in Melbourne in March 2006 during the Commonwealth Games and remember BA still flying there via Bangkok (BA9/10 service). The Queen had been in Melbourne the week before to open the Games. BA withdrew from the MEL route at the end of the Games in 2006 with the commencement of the Summer timetable. I flew with SIA again with all Boeing 747 equipment. Two years later I would fly my first Qantas domestic B747 flight from SYD-MEL.
I also flew from LHR-SYD via SIN on the BA15 during the final week of Boeing 747 operations to Australia. That was 10 years ago. BA withdrew their B747-400s from the SYD route at the end of the Winter timetable in March 2013.
In March/April 2019 I flew to Australia via New Zealand: LHR-LAX (NZ) -AKL-MEL (QF). I then flew SYD-BKK (TG B747) - NRT-HNL (DL) - LAX (UA) - LHR (NZ) no stopovers just connections.
In February 2020 I flew to and from Australia via the iconic Boeing 707 transpacific route: LHR-SFO-HNL-MEL. Flying home the return flight was all on Qantas with the last leg on BA, my final departure from Australia on a Boeing 747-400ER : SYD-LAX-JFK-LHR with JFK-LHR being my final BA B747 flight. The LAX-JFK was on a Qantas Dreamliner.
The Queen (Her Late Majesty) made her final trip to Australia in October 2011 at the age of 85. She had visited Australia 16 times, the same as I have. She flew into Canberra on a BA chartered B777 and flew home non-stop from Perth on the same aircraft type.
Qantas inaugurated the first non-stop flights between PER and LHR exactly five years ago today. QF9 departed MEL via PER non-stop to LHR on 24th March 2018. At the same time direct flights to the UK via Dubai ended and Qantas returned to Singapore after a five year absence. I was in Sydney in April 2013 when Qantas and Emirates both flew their A380s simultaneously over the Harbour Bridge to mark their official partnership and Qantas' new direct A380 route from MEL and SYD to DXB.