Sure, life is a journey, not a destination. However, living on an island on the other side of the world means that we often just want to get to where we are going the quickest that we can. And that’s especially when flying at the back of the plane.

You can fly nonstop to all top 10 destinations visited by travellers from Australia

Here were the 10 most-visited countries by travellers from Australia in 2018, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics:

  1. New Zealand
  2. Indonesia
  3. United States
  4. United Kingdom
  5. China
  6. Thailand
  7. Japan
  8. Singapore
  9. India
  10. Fiji

The good news is that you can fly from Australia to all of these countries without having to transit.

Hawa Mahal India | Point Hacks
To get to India, you can fly to Delhi nonstop from Sydney or Melbourne with Air India

The quickest way to travel from Australia to the US

Currently, you can fly nonstop from:

Nonstop Australia - US flights 2019
Nonstop Australia – US flights in 2019

However, if you want to get to the East Coast of the US, you’ll need to connect. For those in Sydney, flying through one of the two big Texan airports—Dallas/Fort Worth or Houston—is the quickest way.

For Melburnians and Brisbanites, a West Coast airport—Los Angeles or San Francisco—is the route to take.

Adelaidians will actually get there the quickest by travelling through Auckland and Houston. Western Australians jet to the Big Apple in the least amount of time via Hong Kong with Cathay Pacific.

To New York

OriginDurationviaAirline/s
Brisbane20h 10mLos AngelesQantas
Sydney20h 19mDallas/Fort WorthQantas & American Airlines
Melbourne21h 3mLos Angeles or San FranciscoUnited
Adelaide23h 25mAuckland & HoustonAir New Zealand & United
Perth25h 15mHong KongCathay Pacific

To Miami

OriginDurationviaAirline/s
Sydney19h 35mHoustonUnited
Brisbane20h 0mLos AngelesQantas & American Airlines
Melbourne21h 45mSan FranciscoUnited
Adelaide23h 13mSydney & Dallas/Fort WorthQantas & American Airlines
Perth25h 15mSydney & Dallas/Fort WorthQantas & American Airlines
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The quickest way to travel from Australia to Europe

Qantas’ Boeing 787 Dreamliner service from Perth to London launched in March 2018. It’s the first nonstop connection between Australia and Europe.

Clocking in at just under 18 hours, it’s a long trek to undertake in Economy Class. As such, I’d only suggest taking this flight in Business or Premium Economy.

Qantas Boeing 787 Dreamliner Business Class cabin
The 17-hour journey between Perth and London can be a lot to endure, so flying in Business Class (or at least Premium Economy) is recommended

If you want to break up your trip from Perth to Europe and stretch your feet, then you can transit through Singapore, Dubai or Doha, adding 2½-3 hours to your total journey time.

For travellers from the East Coast of Australia, transiting through Singapore with Singapore Airlines takes advantage of efficient layovers of often less than one hour. (The shared British colonial history of Singapore and Australia could explain the high frequency of flights on this version of the Kangaroo Route.)

Changi Airport | Point Hacks
Transiting through Singapore’s Changi Airport is the quickest way to get to London from the East Coast

Those in South Australia can transit through Perth on their way to London with Qantas, or through Dubai to Paris with Emirates.

To London

OriginDurationviaAirline
Perth17h 45m(nonstop)Qantas
Adelaide22h 20mPerthQantas
Melbourne22h 20mSingaporeSingapore Airlines
Sydney22h 40mSingaporeSingapore Airlines
Brisbane23h 10mSingaporeSingapore Airlines

To Paris

OriginDurationviaAirline
Perth20h 25mSingaporeSingapore Airlines
Melbourne22h 25mSingaporeSingapore Airlines
Sydney23h 05mSingaporeSingapore Airlines
Adelaide23h 20mDubaiEmirates
Brisbane24h 20mSingaporeSingapore Airlines

How to calculate the duration of a flight

If you go to Google Flights and input your origin and destination, the search engine’s first instinct is to give you the itinerary with the lowest price, not the quickest transit time.

Under Sort by, click Duration and the results will be calculated from quickest to longest transit time.

Google Flights Europe screenshot
You can sort your results on Google Flights by total travel time

And remember to install this Chrome extension so that you can see how much legroom you’ll get on your flight/s.

Summing up

If you are flying to Europe, then the quickest way to get there is usually through Singapore or Perth.

For US-bound travellers, nonstop services from Sydney, Melbourne or Brisbane to Hawaii, the West Coast or Texas are the way to go. If your destination is on the East Coast of the US, then it really depends on which Australian airport you’re departing from.

With the delivery of more long-range Boeing 787 Dreamliners over the next few years, Qantas will hopefully continue to reduce travel time with new nonstop flights from Australia to Europe and the US (as well as South Africa and Brazil).

However, there are two downsides to a quicker layover: no time for lounge visit, and an increased risk of missing your connecting flight because of delays.

What’s your favourite way to travel to Europe or the US? Would you prefer a quicker or a more comfortable journey?

What is the quickest way to fly from Australia to Europe and the US? [2019] was last modified: May 18th, 2022 by Matt Moffitt