about an hour short of a day but funny enough, not the longest commercial flight ever....

Would that be SQ's SIN-EWR flight??

There was a 747-400 delivery flight that QF made on the same route with very few pax and perhaps a stripped cabin (or one that hadn't been installed yet). A/c had to be towed to the end of the runway at LHR so it didn't burn any fuel taxiing out, and got clearance from ATC along the way for the best route.

The 77L did do a flight from HKG-LHR via N. America though.

LHR-SYD nonstop is the ultimate goal for a number of airlines. But it's just not feasible with current technology without weight & payload penalties severe enough to render the route unprofitable. Believe me, if they could fly the Kangaroo route (or Japan-Brazil) nonstop, everybody would be lining up to do so. And the gulf airlines would suffer huge revenue losses overnight.

Off-topic: Boeing flew a 77L HKG-LHR the long way round as a marketing ploy - but only with about three dozen people on board. There was talk about AKL-YVR-LHR on NZ instead of or in conjunction with LAX a couple years ago - but no progress has been made. Same with PPT-YVR-CDG on AF.

Yes. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Non-sto...ongest_flights

Note YYZ-HKG ranks #15 on the list; YVR-SYD is #21; YYZ-TPE is #25.

YVR-MEL would rank in the #6 range, and no way would Ken HAAmer even consider it without his upgrade.

Off topic, but why does AC not even codeshare to Manila?

What about AC putting a 763 on YVR-HNL-MEL. Already an established market on the first half of the flight, and I don't believe any non-stop competition on the second half. This might be because there is not a big market (although SYD supports a couple of flights a day), but may also be because QF is fairly SYD-focused with its international routes.

That's what AC used to do to get to SYD before the 77L came along. Great idea, but where do they get the extra pair of 763s they need to pull it off?

Plus, who wants to suffer the HNL stopover nightmare?

Good point, but the SYD international-domestic shuffle isn't exactly easy either (although I'd agree doing a really long flight followed by a short one is easier than two long ones broken up in the middle of the night).

Only time I arrived in SYD on a domestic flight, I went downtown and stayed overnight.

But the HNL issue is, on top of the middle of the night thing, dealing with the US immigration nightmare for no real purpose.

Why not just codeshare with Quantas

I am actually suprised there is nothing in place

They are the enemy. One World. Different alliance.

If the first half of the flight (YVR-HNL) is an established and profitable market, how would you make the second part profitable? If say, half the pax disembark in HNL, AC would either need to run the segment to MEL with a half empty aircraft, which would either make the route unprofitable, or require such a large fare that it wouldn't be affordable to all but a few. Or acquire 5th freedom rights to sell HNL-MEL to fill the other half of the seats, if there is indeed a market for a routing between these cities. That might possibly be why no one runs it non-stop.

Then why does the AC website offer you BA flights onward from LHR when trying to book CPT or JNB?