Captain's Choice Recreates Qantas Historic Kangaroo Route in 14-Day, 9-Stop Chartered A330-300 Flight from Sydney to London
Why It MattersThe charter shows sustained demand for immersive, heritage-themed long-haul journeys that repurpose widebody aircraft for multi-stop experiential travel rather than point-to-point service.
A group of 131 passengers flew from Sydney to London aboard a chartered Qantas Airbus A330-300 on flight QF337, completing a 14-day, nine-stop recreation of the Kangaroo Route Qantas first launched in 1947. Organised by Captain's Choice under the name "Pioneering Spirit of the Kangaroo Route," the itinerary included stops in Darwin, Singapore, Kolkata, Colombo, Cairo, Toulouse and Rome before ending in London, with some original stops such as Libya excluded for safety reasons. Only half the economy seats were sold to give passengers extra space, and business-class meals were served to everyone on board.
A 12-strong Captain's Choice team led by chief executive Bas Bosschieter travelled with the group along with catering staff, engineers and three containers of engineering parts; only one replacement part, a control box for the moving map display, was needed during the trip. During a three-day stay in Colombo, passengers visited the Sri Lanka Air Force Museum, where Captain Elmo Jayawardena briefed them on the 1940s "Double Sunrise" route, a 3,500-nautical-mile (6,482-kilometre) Qantas service between Australia and Ceylon that was the world's longest commercial air service of its time, with flights lasting more than 30 hours.
Former Qantas pilot Greg Fitzgerald joined as an expert commentator, describing early commercial aviation conditions including dormitory-style accommodation and sandwich-only meals due to the lack of onboard ovens. The flight was captained by Chris Brooke, who described the trip in his farewell announcement as feeling "less like a charter, more like a family."
