“Kangaroo Route”
This past weekend saw the first non-stop scheduled flight between the UK and Australia, trademarked by Qantas as the “Kangaroo Route”. When this route first kicked off, there were “10 major stopovers and 21 more refuelling stops”, according to the BBC, with a cost of approximately £11,000 in today’s terms, and taking about 12 days.
By comparison, Qantas’ London-Perth flight is non-stop, can cost as little as £690, and takes 17 hours. Which to be honest, as a frequent traveller this isn’t as bad as it sounds, once you do such long-hauls a few times…
Whilst this post isn’t specifically about the latest emerging technology, it serves to remind how technology enables the impossible to become possible, and even for once what was accepted as impossible to become banal. A great reminder of how spectacular powered flight is and the impact it’s had on our lives is the National Geographic documentary, Living in the Age of Airplanes:
The world continues to shrink, and the next steps will shrink it even further if we’re able to return to supersonic flight, or extend into orbital flight. It’s a shame we’ve regressed in terms of speed, but I remain hopeful that we’ll push the boundaries, and even be involved in doing so if I’m lucky.
HRM.
