QANTAS LAUNCHING NONSTOP 17-HOUR DALLAS TO MELBOURNE FLIGHT

Australia's flagship airline Qantas has announced that it will launch a nonstop flight from Dallas to Melbourne this December.

The new direct route from the Texan city to the capital of Victoria will start from 2 December 2022, with four weekly return flights operating between Melbourne and major US hub, Dallas Fort Worth International Airport.

Though Qantas already runs flights between Dallas and Sydney, the new route is the first by any airline between the two cities.

Once launched, it will become the world's fourth-longest passenger flight by distance, covering 8,992 miles - the current top three are Singapore Airlines' Singapore to NYC route (9,537 miles), Qatar Airways' Auckland to Doha (9,032 miles) and Qantas' nonstop Perth to London flight (9,009 miles).

The top 10 longest-haul flights list is set to change a couple of times this year, with the arrival of United Airlines' San Francisco to Bengaluru flight (8,701 miles) taking sixth place in May, followed by Air New Zealand's Auckland to New York City flight (8,828 miles), launching in September and slotting in at number four - before being replaced by Qantas's Dallas-Melbourne.