(CNN) — Flying to the other side of the world used to be such a romantic adventure, but the 10-day upper-class epics of yesteryear will soon be reduced to a 15-hour nonstop dash.
Instead of a multi-stage marathon on a luxury flying boat, the first direct flights from the UK to Perth, Australia will take off in March 2018, operated by Qantas Airways,
The high-tech Boeing 787 Dreamliner, which Qantas is due to take delivery of on October 17, represents the final link in the chain for the great aviation adventure which has rendered the world a smaller place.
"The return fare was about £400 -- the equivalent of two years' minimum wages, making the journey very much one reserved for the rich and famous."
'Aerial pioneers'
Luxury flying boats came with a promenade deck.
Those early journeys from the were flown in two parts, beginning with a lengthy trip from the English port of Southampton to the northern Australian town of Darwin in a then state-of-the-art Short C Class flying boat that could carry 15 people.
Despite the romantic image of a luxury flying boat, complete with smoking cabin, promenade deck and space for quoits and golf, the reality was often very different.
"Operating at 10,000 feet flying through tropics was often a nasty affair with severe turbulence and no weather radar to help pilots in those days," says Thomas.
However, the hospitality and in-flight service were first class, with stewards described as "aerial pioneers of personal care and service," according to Frank Gunn's book The Defeat of Distance.
"Meals were sumptuous," he writes. "Grapefruit and cereals, egg and bacon, bread rolls with tea, coffee, or cocoa for breakfast; then later, roast mutton with peas and potatoes, or a choice of ham, pressed beef, or ox tongue with salad, followed by Peach Melba, a cherry flan, or cheese and fruit."
The last part of the journey from Darwin to Perth on Australia's west coast was flown by local airline MacRobertson Miller Airlines in 6-10 passenger De Havilland DH-84s and later the DH-86.
With no night flying, passengers stayed in the most luxurious hotels available down route, although in Western Australia the accommodation was basic at best.
'Quantum leap'
Qantas's first Boeing 787 will launch non-stop flights between the UK and Australia in March, 2018
The flying boats were superseded by converted Lancaster bombers before Qantas and British Airways ordered pressurized four-engine Lockheed Constellations, which were a "quantum leap forward," according to Thomas.
This "Kangaroo Route" introduced tourist or economy class in 1954 and within two years it accounted for 44% of passengers....
Read More: London to Australia flights: From 10 days to nonstop