Qantas, the airline we can all agree needs to buy a “u,” will become the first airline to operate non-stop flights between Las Vegas and Australia.
The flights won’t start until Dec. 29, 2027, so you have plenty of time to learn all about Robert Irwin before you head to the land down under.
The direct flights are expected to save travelers five hours of flight time, and if you have air travel challenges (sheer terror) like we do, this is a gift from the heavens. Most coverage of this new service fails to mention flights will still be 14 hours long.
Qantas isn’t fully committing to making this service permanent just yet, as there are some questions about whether there is enough demand to make this route financially viable.
The airline isn’t going nuts on the number of flights. The service will start with flights limited to Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays.
The theory is the service will be seasonal, serving some big events like the Consumer Electronics Show and National Rugby League’s annual gathering of sweaty, completely heterosexual men rubbing up against each other repeatedly at Allegiant Stadium.
Seriously, no National Rugby League player has come out as gay since Ian Roberts in 1995, more than three decades ago. Sounds legit.
The president and CEO of the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, Steve Hill, says more than 250,000 Australians visit Las Vegas each year.
Hill says those visitors are “drawn by the breadth and depth of experiences Las Vegas offers.” By that, of course, he means escorts.
The new Qantas route will be flown by a Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft.
The Boeing 787 Dreamliner is the first large airliner to have a fuselage and wing structure made primarily from carbon-fiber composite materials, making it lighter, stronger and more durable than traditional aluminum designs.
We are retroactively freaking out about the fact planes used to be made of the same material as your typical Diet Coke can.
The Qantas news release didn’t say whether this will be the 787-8, 787-9 or 787-10, but the only way we’ll even consider taking this flight is if it’s the freshest plane possible. The 787-10 carries about 300 people.
This plane can fly an incredible 9,000 to 10,000 miles nonstop. Australia is about 7,500 miles away from Las Vegas.
A perk of these planes: Lower cabin altitude and higher humidity, reducing fatigue. Older aircraft have pressurized cabins that simulate being at about 8,000 feet above sea level. The Boeing 787 Dreamliner simulates about 6,000 feet instead. The effect is feeling more alert after landing, which means if you’re traveling from Australia to Las Vegas, you will be sharp enough to realize you should never, ever visit Sahara casino because it is owned by a litigious asshat.
We are always looking out for you, Australians!
Oh, and as mentioned, this plane has higher humidity levels than many other planes. That means less dehydration, fewer dry eyes and scratchy throats and reduced tiredness after long-haul flights.
The Sydney (SYD) to Las Vegas (LAS) flight will operate as QF55. It will depart Sydney at 9:00 p.m. and arrive in Las Vegas at 3:55 p.m., a flight time of 13 hours and 55 minutes.
We are not a math person, but it’s possible you’re actually traveling back in time and arriving on the same calendar day with this flight. Flyers will cross the International Date Line, move across multiple time zones and “gain” roughly 17–19 hours. You’re leaving Australia on Monday night and arriving in Las Vegas on Monday afternoon. That’s just how magical Las Vegas is. You get more time to drink and gamble and fornicate. How is that not the tagline for Las Vegas when marketing to Australians? Must we do everything, Qantas and Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority?
The flights will cost in the $700 to $750 range (it’s $1,099 Australian dollars).
This is all such great news for our Australian friends who often spend 36–45 hours traveling to and from Las Vegas.
Australia has casinos, but they don’t have a dozen incredible resorts concentrated in one place like The Strip. Each major city in Australia typically has one primary, heavily-regulated casino, which is known as the “monopoly” or “lame” model of casino operation.
In Australia, slot machines are called “pokies,” a term that is completely unrelated to “pokey,” meaning “a small jail” in American English. We can’t stress enough how unrelated it is because if it were related, we would be forced to mention Australia began as a British penal colony. Which would then give us no other choice than to talk about how rugby also has a glaring “penal” element, which might cause an international incident.
Fun fact: Australian casinos don’t comp booze when people are gambling. They’re basically driving gamblers to Las Vegas!
Another fun fact: Australia has one of the highest gambling participation rates per capita in the world.
Which makes this Qantas flight a dream for Las Vegas.
As mentioned, the inaugural flight will take off on Dec. 29, 2026. The service will operate until March 12, 2027.
That end date is fluid, though. If Sphere gets AC/DC or Midnight Oil, anticipate an expansion of the schedule. Hey, we scooped everyone on Metallica at Sphere. We’re working on it.
