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British Airways has touched down on Australian soil in the early hours of Tuesday morning, for the first time in two years.
The first flight, BA15, landed at Sydney Kingsford Smith just after 6:10am on Tuesday morning, around 23 hours after it left London Heathrow, including a 1.5-hour stopover in Singapore.
Meanwhile, the return leg, BA16, took off from Sydney at 4:15pm and is en route to Singapore. The flight will land at Heathrow around 5:00am on Wednesday, 30 March.
Using its fleet of Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft, the British flag carrier has officially resumed daily services between London and Sydney.
“British Airways has always had a strong link to Australia. For both business and leisure travellers, London is the major gateway for Europe and one of the most popular destinations for our customers down under,” said Noella Ferns, British Airways’ head of sales for Asia-Pacific.
“Today, we are thrilled to fly to Australia once again and play our part in reuniting families and friends with their loved ones, including two of our cabin crew members, Ross and Mark who are operating on this very special flight and reunited with their families in Sydney after two years apart.”
Meanwhile, Geoff Culbert, CEO of Sydney Airport, welcomed the return of the British flag carrier to the airport after over 700 days.
“It’s terrific to welcome British Airways back to Sydney Airport as it resumes one of the most iconic routes in international aviation,” he said.
“The cultural, business and family connections between Australia and the UK run deep, and it will be great to see the Union flag tail on the BA aircraft back at SYD.
“Since the opening of our international border in February, a number of international airlines have returned to Sydney and capacity is increasing – a welcome sight as we gradually climb out of the pandemic and put two years of pain behind us.”
British Airways announced its impending return last month, just days after the Australian federal government announced it would reopen to fully vaccinated tourists and visa holders from 21 February.
“We can’t wait to welcome our customers back on board our Sydney to London flights and we will be honoured to play our part in reuniting families and friends with their loved ones after such a long time apart,” said Ferns said at that time.
“The safety of our customers and colleagues has always been at the heart of everything we do. We know some customers won’t have flown for a long time, and we can assure them we have a range of COVID-19 measures in place to provide stress and hassle-free travel.”
