Qantas Airways has launched nonstop service between Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport and Australia.
The first Qantas flight from Sydney, Australia, arrived at DFW on Monday to be greeted by a salute from water cannon of the airport's fire trucks.
Aboard the flight were Kim Beazley, Australia's ambassador to the United States, and actor John Travolta, a Qantas spokesman.
The Australian airline will operate four flights a week from DFW to Sydney, with a stop in Brisbane on the return leg of the flight to DFW.
A DFW Airport statement says the Qantas flights will offer three-class service on Boeing 747-400 aircraft four times a week.
“We are very excited at the arrival of Qantas Airways here at DFW,” said Jeff Fegan, Chief Executive Officer of DFW International Airport. “This flight really is a game-changer. The Qantas service opens up an entirely new part of the world to DFW passengers, giving American travelers unprecedented access to Australia and the entire South Pacific region.”
Travolta, while greeting passengers as the exited the flight, couldn't agree more with Fegan's statements.
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“I think that DFW is the highest quality airport in our country, and Qantas is empirically the highest quality airline in the world, and I think the marriage of these two entities is brilliant,” said Travolta.
The new service is expected to generate approximately $130 million in annual economic impact to the DFW region.
