Sydney to London with 7 stops along the way? Qantas' historic Kangaroo Route is back (sort of)

CNN

10-03-2025

The year is 1947 and the world is continuing its long crawl out of the shadows of war.
You're excited. You've been in Australia for decades, made a small fortune and finally have some time to visit your relatives back in England.
Australia's national airline, Qantas, has just launched its first 'all Qantas' service from Sydney to London aboard its freshly acquired Lockheed Constellation planes.
Referred to as the 'Kangaroo Route,' this is no ordinary point A to point B journey. Taking four days, it includes layovers in Darwin, Singapore, Calcutta (now Kolkata), Karachi, Cairo and Tripoli before arriving in the UK capital. (It's much quicker than the 10-day 'flying boat' trips that launched in 1938.)
The plane only holds 29 passengers, alongside three pilots, one navigator, one radio operator, two flight engineers and three cabin crew.
The price? A whopping £525, which would amount to around £17,400 (about $22,450) in 2025, according to the Bank of England's inflation calculator.
Flash forward to today and travelers have a variety of flights to choose from to get between Sydney and London in under 30 hours, with a single stopover.
But where's the fun in that?
For those with a little more time and cash on their hands, luxury travel operator Captain's Choice has just launched a new 14-day tour called the 'Pioneering Spirit of the Kangaroo Route.'
Taking off on February 3, 2026, it will follow a similar flight path as the one Qantas first wholly operated in 1947, promising guests 'a journey born of nostalgia, yet one enhanced by the conveniences of the modern era.'
Passengers will fly on a chartered Qantas Airbus A330-300, making stops in Darwin, Singapore, Kolkata, Colombo, Cairo, Toulouse and Rome, staying in luxury hotels and experiencing the highlights of each destination along the way.
'It has been on my radar for many years to recreate this iconic route,' says Captain's Choice CEO Bas Bosschieter.
'The Kangaroo Route has a special meaning for Australians. We like to design truly unique itineraries at Captain's Choice and this one fits so well with our brand —- being experts in private travel, and given our association with Qantas. We have a long history with Qantas, with our first ever journey through Asia and Africa in 1994 taking place aboard a privately chartered Qantas 767.'
Bosschieter notes that a considerable amount of time went into planning this journey alongside Qantas. He says they spoke to historical experts and will include some nods to the original route throughout the trip.
'Some of this is still being planned but will include retro merchandise, ex-Qantas pilots sharing their stories, and perhaps even having a Super Constellation at our welcome dinner,' he says.
'I recently spoke to someone who traveled to Australia on the Kangaroo Route, and we hope to include some of those stories throughout the journey too.'
The price of the trip starts at 49,950 Australian dollars (about $31,000) per person and includes all meals, drinks, hotels, tours, transfers, tips and, of course, flights.
Guests can tailor their stopovers to their personal interests and experience some VIP perks as well. For instance, in Sri Lanka they can meet a legendary Sri Lankan cricketer before an exclusive dinner at the prime minister's residence.
In Rome, they will take an after-hours private tour of the Vatican Museum. Nearing the end of the trip, travelers will get an insider's tour of the Airbus factory in Toulouse, France, and a farewell dinner set under the wings of a Concorde jet.
The hotels are as luxurious as one would expect at that price point. In Singapore, for example, they will stay at the Ritz Carlton Millenia.
Bosschieter tells CNN that interest has been strong and the Business Class spots have already sold out.
'In Economy Class we are only selling 150 of the 269 seats to allow our guests to have more room to spread out,' he adds.
'This also means all guests will be seated in a window or aisle seat. With only one sector longer than 4.5 hours, guests will have time to enjoy Business Class catering throughout the aircraft and hand-selected wines and beverages from around the world.'
Why is the trip so popular? The CEO says he thinks the Kangaroo Route taps into a sense of nostalgia for many Australians.
'It also highlights how far air travel and travel in general has come,' says Bosschieter. 'We will be able to recreate the route in a lot more comfort than those who originally traveled … It truly is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.'
The timing of the Captain's Choice trip is notable; 2026 is also the year Qantas plans to add another page to its aviation history book with the launch of its long in-development 'Project Sunrise,' a plan to operate the world's longest nonstop flights.
The airline will offer flights from Sydney to London and New York that will be serviced by specially configured Airbus A350-1000 jets, with flight times of up to 20 hours.
Project Sunrise was first announced by Qantas in 2017. The name was inspired by the secretive, danger-filled flights made from Perth to Sri Lanka en route to London during World War II. They lasted so long pilots saw two sunrises.
In 2019, Qantas conducted three trial research trips to gather data to present to Australia's Civil Aviation Safety Authority, which needed proof that pilots, cabin crew and passengers can cope with up to 22 hours in the air.
During these flights, pilots wore brainwave monitors and had their urine tested in the weeks before and after the journey to track levels of melatonin, a hormone that controls sleep cycles. Passengers in the main cabin wore monitoring devices, allowing scientists to study how their 'health, well-being and body clock' were impacted by a set of variables including lighting, food and drink, movement, sleep patterns and inflight entertainment.
No launch date has been set, though Qantas says the first Airbus A350-1000 jets that will be used to service the ultra-long-haul flights are scheduled to arrive in mid-2026.