It is rare for a boarding announcement to be greeted with cheers, but when Captain’s Choice chief executive Bas Bosschieter announced that QF1337 was ready for boarding this morning, the crowd of 131 passengers at Gate 11 at Sydney’s Kingsford Smith airport hollered their approval.
This Sydney to Darwin flight is the first leg in a two-week, seven-stop journey recreating the “Kangaroo Route” launched by Qantas in 1947, so called because of the short “hops” made by aircraft with limited flying range.
To enhance the nostalgic feel, ground staff were clad in vintage Qantas uniforms from the 1970s designed by Emilio Pucci, featuring a fetching floral print for women and a striking orange-jacket-with-mustard-shirt combination for the men.
But there are significant differences between this trip aboard the Port Stephens, a chartered Qantas Airbus A330-300, and the journey on the Lockheed L-749 Constellation pioneered in 1947.
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Back then, the trip from Sydney to London took five days, including 59 hours flying time – a lightning-fast pace when compared with the flying boats of the 1930s, which took twice as long.
The updated itinerary for the Captain’s Choice Pioneering Spirit of the Kangaroo Route journey is a more leisurely experience. Over 14 days it follows an almost identical flight path to the first route wholly operated by Qantas in 1947, with stops in Darwin, Singapore, Kolkata, Colombo, Cairo, Rome and Toulouse.
Most of the flights will be between three and five hours, with the longest leg, Colombo to Cairo, stretching seven hours and 50 minutes. Only half the onboard seats were made available for sale, ensuring passengers have space to stretch out.
Unsurprisingly, many of the passengers willing to shell out for the experience – all-inclusive fares start at $49,950 – are serious aviation nerds. They include Singapore-born Perth resident Keng Wong, whose passion for planes began as a child when his brother would take him to the Paya Lebar airport to watch the aircraft.
“I fell in love with the Lockheed Constellation. It had such huge propellors, it made so much noise, it had this dolphin shape and a three-pointed tail,” says Wong, who later spent 25 years working in catering for Qantas.
Wong and his fellow devotees will have plenty of opportunities to get their geek on. Optional activities along the way including a visit to the Darwin Aviation Museum, access to the Singapore Air Show, and a tour of the state-of-the-art facilities at the Jean-Luc Lagardère Final Assembly Line (FAL), a facility of Airbus, France’s leading aerospace company.
More traditional sightseeing activities include entry into one of Egypt’s ancient pyramids and an after-hours tour of the Vatican Museums, while cricket fans will meet and chat with a member of Sri Lanka’s 1996 World Cup-winning cricket team.
The ambitious one-off itinerary has been a long-term project for the Captain’s Choice chief executive. “We first started talking about this at the end of 2017, with the intention to travel in 2020,” Bosschieter told guests at a pre-flight dinner at the Sydney Opera House on Tuesday night.
Although a planned flyover by a Lockheed L-1049 Super Constellation aircraft was cancelled at the last minute due to airspace restrictions, guests enjoyed a performance by the Australian Girls’ Choir (inevitably the set list featured I Still Call Australia Home) and an interview with Wendy Miles (nee Fysh), the daughter of Qantas co-founder Sir Wilmot Hudson Fysh.
Miles recalled travelling the Kangaroo Route in 1947 as a 17-year-old girl. “It was the first flight I went on and everybody was dressed up. All the women were in hats and gloves and all the men were in suits.”
Today’s passengers may not quite meet those sartorial standards but they are guaranteed attentive service with 12 Qantas staff on board including captains, cabin crew, an engineer, and catering staff. The dining experience is also elevated, with all passengers enjoying business-class menus. On the Sydney to Darwin leg, the choice of mains included croque monsieur, gruyere and mushroom quiche and a lamb and rosemary pie with mushy peas and crispy potatoes.
The writer is travelling as a guest of Captain’s Choice.
Ute Junker is a freelance writer and editor who has been covering travel for more than 20 years.