Qantas Airways repatriation flight makes history

October 7th 2021

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A record-breaking Qantas Airways repatriation flight carrying 107 passengers from Buenos Aires in Argentina touched down in Darwin Wednesday night after a marathon flight of 15,020kms lasting 17 hours and 25 minutes. Read More » The 787-9 flew 522 kilometres further than the airline’s scheduled Perth-London nonstop flight. It was the first direct flight between Buenos Aires and Darwin. It also is one of hundreds of repatriation and charter flights operated by Qantas while scheduled services have been suspended during the pandemic. While a creditable ultra-long-haul effort, it was not as long as the non-stop Sydney to London and New York test flights conducted in 2019 with reduced passenger loads. QF14 took off at 12.44pm local time in Buenos Aires, tracking south of Argentina, skirting the edge of Antarctica before crossing the Australian coast at 5.28pm (AEDT) and landing in Darwin at 6.39pm local time on Wednesday. The airline reported smooth conditions with average head winds of up to 35 kilometres per hour and temperatures as low as -75C while flying over Antarctica. A team of flight planning analysts spent the past month conducting extensive planning for the flight based on weather and wind conditions across the Pacific Ocean and Antarctica. QF14 also marked the first time a flight has landed in Darwin from every inhabited continent in one year. All were operated by Qantas.