Southern Cross Route

The Southern Cross Route is the name given to the commercial passenger air route connecting Australia and the United Kingdom via the United States.[1][2] The term was coined by British Commonwealth Pacific Airlines in 1949 to refer to its new trans-pacific route from Australia to North America.[3][4] The name was chosen by BCPA in honour of Sir Charles Kingsford Smith's historic 1928 flight in the aircraft Southern Cross.[5]

In 1954, Qantas acquired BCPA and expanded the term's definition as it also expanded the route, even trademarking it for a number of years,[6] as the official name of its air routes connecting Australia and the United Kingdom via the United States.[7][8] Qantas would go on to pair up the Southern Cross route with its existing famous counterpart route the "Kangaroo Route" connecting Australia and the United Kingdom via the Eastern Hemisphere to form its newly titled "Round the World" service.[9]

Significant dates in the Southern Cross Route's evolution

  • 14 February 1949 (1949-02-14): Initial operations (Australia to North America) – The term was coined by British Commonwealth Pacific Airlines (BCPA) when they were formed to begin the first commercial service from Sydney to Vancouver in February 1949.[4][3]
  • 15 May 1954 (1954-05-15): Multi-operator combined operations begin – Aftering acquiring BCPA on April 1st 1954, Qantas quickly put into service their own operating of the route connecting Australia and North America, launching their first operated flight of the Southern Cross Route on 15 May to San Francisco.[10][11][12] British Overseas Airways Company (BOAC) retained its existing transatlantic operating rights and services from New York to London.[13] BOAC subsequently sold connecting flights operated by domestic airlines from 1954 onwards, providing a multi-carrier operated route connecting Australia and the United Kingdom for the first time via North America.[14]
  • 14 January 1958 (1958-01-14): Qantas operates the entire route – Qantas' Southern Cross route operations were extended to the United Kingdom following the signing of an air services agreement between Australia and the United Kingdom in 1957.[1] This extended commercial route was inaugurated on 14 January 1958 by Qantas using their Lockheed L-1049 Super Constellations.[15][16]
  • 1 April 1973 (1973-04-01): Qantas continued to operate the full route to London until 1 April 1973, when it discontinued the New York to London leg of the route, leaving partner airlines to operate this part of the route.[17][15]
  • 21 March 2020 (2020-03-21): Qantas suspends all international flights – Qantas suspended its entire Southern Cross service as Australia shut down all international flights in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.[18]
  • 14 June 2023 (2023-06-14): Qantas resumes flights to New York – Qantas relaunched flights to North America, this time swapping out the traditional stop in the west coast of the United States, with a stop in Auckland, New Zealand, before continuing nonstop to New York. The final part of the Southern Cross Route to London continued to be operated by Qantas' partners such as British Airways and American Airlines.[19]

Other operators

While the "Southern Cross Route" term and route was originated by BCPA and continues to be used as the official term by Qantas, it is often genericised by the media and other operators to refer to all flights between Australia and the United Kingdom via North America. Many airlines have operated the Australia to UK route via North America over the years; a notable first operator was Pan Am who received rights as part of the same air agreements that gave Qantas rights to operate across the United States.[20]

As of 2026, there are four airlines operating the Southern Cross route (with seasonal destinations in italics):

Airline Origin in Australia Intermediate stop Destination(s) in the United Kingdom
Air Canada Brisbane, Sydney Vancouver[21] London–Heathrow
American Airlines Brisbane Dallas/Fort Worth[22]
Brisbane, Sydney Los Angeles[23][24]
Delta Air Lines Brisbane, Melbourne, Sydney
United Airlines Sydney Houston[25][26]
Melbourne, Sydney Los Angeles[27]
Adelaide,[28] Brisbane, Melbourne, Sydney San Francisco[29]

See also

  • Kangaroo Route – the Southern Cross Route's counterpart traveling via the Eastern Hemisphere
  • Wallaby Route – route launched by Qantas in 1952 connecting Sydney to Johannesburg
  • Fiesta Route – Qantas' route that existed from 1964 to 1975, connecting Sydney to London via Fiji, Tahiti, Acapulco, Mexico City, The Bahamas, and Bermuda.[30][31]

References

  1. ^ a b "Exchange Of Air Routes In New Agreement". The Canberra Times. Vol. 31, no. 9, 293. Australian Capital Territory, Australia. 7 October 1957. p. 5. Retrieved 23 January 2022 – via National Library of Australia.
  2. ^ "Only Qantas offers this exclusive travel quartet". The Illustrated London News. 30 April 1966. p. 4. Archived from the original on 14 February 2026. Retrieved 14 February 2026.
  3. ^ a b "Huge Airliner to Fly Across to Vancouver". The Canberra Times. Vol. 23, no. 6822. Australian Capital Territory, Australia. 17 February 1949. p. 3. Retrieved 23 January 2022 – via National Library of Australia.
  4. ^ a b "GIANT AIRLINER ON PIONEERS' TRACKS". The Sun. No. 12, 186. New South Wales, Australia. 16 February 1949. p. 10 (LATE FINAL EXTRA). Retrieved 23 January 2022 – via National Library of Australia.
  5. ^ "QANTAS Airways celebrates 60 years of flying to the United States". World Airline News. 18 May 2014. Retrieved 23 January 2022.
  6. ^ "Trade Mark 330918 | IP Australia | Trade Mark Search". search.ipaustralia.gov.au. Retrieved 12 February 2026.
  7. ^ "Round the world at 9 miles a minute". The Birmingham Daily Post. 20 October 1959. p. 11. Retrieved 14 February 2026.
  8. ^ Crouch, Wally (21 October 1972), "Tying Down the Kangaroo", The bulletin., John Ryan Comic Collection (Specific issues)., vol. 094, no. 4826, Sydney, N.S.W: John Haynes and J.F. Archibald, p. 72, ISSN 0007-4039, nla.obj-1335022141, retrieved 14 February 2026 – via Trove
  9. ^ "London to Perth: Everything you need to know about the first non-stop flights from Britain to Australia". The Telegraph. Retrieved 30 December 2017.
  10. ^ "MERGER OF AIR SERVICES". The Sydney Morning Herald. No. 36, 267. New South Wales, Australia. 18 March 1954. p. 5. Retrieved 13 February 2026 – via National Library of Australia.
  11. ^ "Advertising". Daily Mirror. No. 4038. New South Wales, Australia. 17 May 1954. p. 26 (Late Final Extra 2). Retrieved 13 February 2026 – via National Library of Australia.
  12. ^ "Qantas begins Pacific service". The Daily Telegraph. Vol. XV, no. 26. New South Wales, Australia. 16 May 1954. p. 10. Retrieved 14 February 2026 – via National Library of Australia.
  13. ^ Higham, Robin (2020). Speedbird: The Complete History of BOAC. Bloomsbury Academic. p. 335. ISBN 978-1350160224.
  14. ^ "BOAC Timetable 1955" (PDF). TimeTableImages.com. October 1955. Retrieved 13 February 2026.
  15. ^ a b Rimmer, Peter J. (2005). "Australia Through the Prism of Qantas: Distance Makes a Comeback" (PDF). Otemon Journal of Australian Studies. 31. Retrieved 23 January 2022.
  16. ^ "Inauguration QANTAS Round World Service". The Canberra Times. Vol. 31, no. 9378. Australian Capital Territory, Australia. 15 January 1958. p. 8. Retrieved 13 February 2026 – via National Library of Australia.
  17. ^ "Qantas to end flight over U.S." The Canberra Times. Vol. 47, no. 13, 338. Australian Capital Territory, Australia. 22 January 1973. p. 1. Retrieved 13 February 2026 – via National Library of Australia.
  18. ^ "Our History - The Pandemic Years". Qantas.com. Retrieved 13 February 2026.
  19. ^ "QANTAS GEARS UP FOR NEW YORK FLIGHTS WITH NEW AIRCRAFT, DESIGNER PJS AND NEW MENU ITEMS". Qantas NewsRoom. 31 May 2023. Retrieved 13 February 2026.
  20. ^ Rimmer, Peter J. "Australia Through the Prism of Qantas: Distance Makes a Comeback" (PDF). The Otemon Journal of Australian Studies. 31: 135–157.
  21. ^ "Direct nonstop flights (Operated by AC via YVR)". FlightsFrom.com. Retrieved 12 February 2026.
  22. ^ "Direct nonstop flights (Operated by AA via DFW)". FlightsFrom.com. Retrieved 3 June 2024.
  23. ^ "Direct nonstop flights (Operated by AA via LAX)". FlightsFrom.com. Retrieved 12 February 2026.
  24. ^ "Direct nonstop flights (Operated by DL via LAX)". FlightsFrom.com. Retrieved 12 February 2026.
  25. ^ "Direct nonstop flights (Operated by UA via IAH)". FlightsFrom.com. Retrieved 12 February 2026.
  26. ^ "United adds Houston – Sydney service from Jan 2018". Routes. 7 September 2017. Retrieved 23 January 2022.
  27. ^ "Direct nonstop flights (Operated by UA via LAX)". FlightsFrom.com. Retrieved 12 February 2026.
  28. ^ "United Airlines adds Thailand, Vietnam and Australia flights in latest expansion". CNBC. Retrieved 2 April 2025.
  29. ^ "Direct nonstop flights (Operated by UA via SFO)". FlightsFrom.com. Retrieved 12 February 2026.
  30. ^ "The History Of Flight Between The UK and Australia From 1935 Onwards". London Air Travel. 1 May 2022. Retrieved 29 November 2022.
  31. ^ "Quiz: Beach Boys Lyric or Qantas Route?". Qantas. 16 April 2019. Retrieved 25 November 2022.
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