August is the summer in the Northern Hemisphere but the winter Down Under. This month, Qantas is the world’s 24th-largest operator by long-haul flights. It’ll be a while until the carrier’s Airbus A321XLRs fly long-haul. There is little need to mention the A350-1000ULR until the first route is scheduled.

Qantas’ schedule submission to OAG shows that it has an average of 25 daily long-haul departures from Australia in August, down by 5% year-over-year. They exist from Brisbane Airport (BNE), Melbourne Airport (MEL), Perth Airport (PER), and Sydney Kingsford Smith Airport (SYD).

Qantas’ Longest Nonstop Flights In August

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As usual with such articles, the maximum block time was used to determine Qantas’ longest nonstop services in August. This is measured as chocks-off-to-chocks-on, or gate-to-gate. It includes taxiing at both ends of a route, the flight time, and a period for short delays. Reflecting slot possession, it is what’s shown on an airline’s website, in other booking locations, in schedules, and more.

One-stop and nonstop operations are often combined, but this is not done here. This is largely because some of Qantas’ longest flights, such as from PER to London Heathrow Airport (LHR) in that direction, are currently stopping en route. This is because of the prevailing wind in that direction and currently not being able to fly over Iranian airspace. The airline could lower the payload to carry more fuel to fly nonstop, but that would not be economical.

Flights to the UK’s busiest airport continue to stop en route at the ever-popular Singapore Changi Airport (SIN) to refuel and presumably change crew. As such, the nonstop list is more unusual than is typically the case. Nonstop service to LHR is due to return in February 2027, while nonstop flights back to Western Australia continue to operate. Note that Qantas has suspended flights between PER and Paris Charles De Gaulle Airport (CDG).

Qantas Between MEL & DFW

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On a great circle basis, the very long route to and from Texas covers 7,814 nautical miles (14,472 km) each way. As this figure does not include the real-world track, the distance will be longer. With a maximum block time of 17 hours and 40 minutes back to Victoria, the leg is currently Qantas’ longest nonstop offering. Usually, nonstop flights from PER to LHR would rank first.

Qantas has operated between MEL and DFW since December 2022. It links two oneworld hubs, in collaboration with joint venture partner American Airlines, without which flights would obviously not exist. US Department of Transportation data for the 12 months to April 2026 shows that Qantas transported 81,198 round-trip passengers on the nonstop offering, achieving a load factor of 83.2%.

This result exceeded the airline’s SYD-DFW load factor (80.6%) and Qantas’ average US load (80.2%). As always, it is just one performance measure and is always about how it was achieved. Do not read too much into it, as it just provides a partial picture of the situation.

62% Of MEL-DFW Passengers Also Flew American

Credit: Qantas

Booking data estimates that more than six in ten of Qantas’ MEL-DFW-MEL passengers also connected to another flight with American. This is based on combining those who originated and ended in MEL and transited in DFW with those who ‘bridged’ both hubs. Such passengers flew from somewhere to MEL, between MEL and DFW, and then transited to another service in Texas.

The five most popular segments via DFW were MEL to/from Toronto, Orlando, New York LaGuardia, Boston, and Chicago O’Hare. The top five bridging markets were Canberra to Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA) via MEL and DFW, which is a capital-to-capital link. PER to Orlando was next, followed by PER-Houston Intercontinental, PER-Toronto, and PER-Denver. However, all the traffic figures for the bridging markets were small.