Will we soon be able to fly Australia to London DIRECT? Qantas predicts non-stop 18-hour flights to Europe 'within a year' after taking delivery of new Dreamliners

• .Qantas is looking at direct flights between Perth and London
• .Sydney and Chicago and Melbourne and Dallas routes also considered
• .The direct flights could launch with rollout of new 787-9 Dreamliners 
• .The standard Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner costs about $345 million
• .Qantas will buy eight of the planes to replace ageing 747s 

By RACHEL EDDIE and DANIEL PETERS FOR DAILY MAIL AUSTRALIA

The first direct flights from Australia to Europe could happen as soon as next year, while other long haul flight routes are being considered by Qantas.

Qantas is looking at direct flights between Perth and London as a 'real option' when the airline launches its first 787-9 Dreamliners. This journey would take around 18 hours.

Long-haul routes between Sydney and Chicago and Melbourne and Dallas are also on the table. 

The planes can fly longer distances because they are 20 per cent better fuel efficiency than standard 747s because of lighter materials and better aerodynamics.

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Qantas is looking at direct flights between Perth and London as a 'real option' when the airline launches its first 787-9 Dreamliners (artist's impression pictured)

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The new Dreamliners will be able to take Australians as far as New York and Cape Town in direct flights, harnessing the latest fuel technology

Qantas predicts non-stop flights to Europe on new Dreamliners

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DREAMLINER ENGINE STATS

The new Boeing 787-9 Dreamliners will be powered by General Electric (GE) GEnx engines - which harness the latest advancements in technology and materials.

The state-of-the-art engines, which will be able to fly passengers from Australia to as far as Cape Town and New York without refueling, have:

- 20% better fuel efficiency

- 20% reduction in carbon emissions

- 40% reduction in nitrous oxide emissions

- 50% smaller noise footprints around airports

The 787-9 Dreamliner, built by Boeing, costs $345 million. A Qantas spokesman told Daily Mail Australia that price of each plane depended on the plane's technical specifications and how many the airline bought at once.

Qantas will buy eight of the 787-9s, with the goal of gradually replacing its older Boeing 747s between 2018 and 2019. 

Qantas Group CEO Alan Joyce told the annual Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation conference travellers would know more by the end of the year.

 Mr Joyce said Qantas was liaising with airports to ensure the necessary infrastructure would be available to handle the new planes.

'For instance, for Perth to London, we'd need our international and domestic operations to be in the same terminal, we need Customs and Immigration, there's a lot of infrastructure and planning that needs to be there,' Joyce said.

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What inside a 787-9 Dreamliner looks like (pictured: Japan's airline All Nippon Airways)

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Business class berths pictured on an Air New Zealand Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner in 2014

'This milestone acquisition marks the scale of our turnaround and looks ahead to a new era for our iconic international airline.

'The key reason we chose this particular aircraft is its incredible efficiency. Its new technology will reduce fuel burn, cut heavy maintenance requirements and open up new destinations around the globe.

'Because the 787 is smaller than the jumbos it will gradually replace, it gives us the flexibility of having more aircraft without significantly changing our overall capacity.

The 787-9 Dreamliners have larger windows, improved cabin pressure and experience a reduction in turbulence, according to Qantas.

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Qantas Group CEO Alan Joyce said travellers would know more by the end of the year, he told the annual Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation conference (Mr Joyce pictured in May)