The first non-stop flight between the UK and Australia is launching in March 2018

Passengers will be able to fly non-stop from the UK to Australia when one of the longest regular flights in the world launches in March 2018.

Qantas will fly from London to Perth, in the east of the country — a 17-hour, 9,000-mile journey.

The line said it would use Boeing 787-9 Dreamliners and depart from Heathrow. Tickets will go on sale in April 2017.

The journey is likely to match or eclipse the current longest flight in the world, operated by Emirates between Dubai and Auckland, New Zealand.

Alan Joyce, chief executive of Qantas, said: “This is a game-changing route flown by a game-changing aircraft. Travellers from Europe have never had a direct link down under before, so the opportunities this opens for them to explore Australia are huge.”

The first air travel connecting the UK to Australia began in 1935, flying passengers from Sydney via Singapore to London — taking 12 days.

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“When Qantas created the Kangaroo Route to London in 1947, it took four days and nine stops,” Qantas chief executive officer Alan Joyce added. “Now it will take just 17 hours from Perth non-stop.”

The Boeings used on the route will carry 236 passengers, Qantas said.

Perth is considered to be one of the most remote cities in the world given its nearest city of one million people is Adelaide, 1,207 miles away.

In October 2015, Qantas promised non-stop flights within “two years”.

Next month, Qatar Airways begins flying from Doha to Auckland, which, at 9,032 miles, is slightly longer than London to Perth.

Singapore Airlines also plans to reinstate its flight to New York in 2018, which will then become the world’s longest air journey.