It was as smooth as silk with the seat belt sign turned on just once for 5 minutes with our Qantas Boeing 787, VH-ZNB, "Waltzing Matilda" performing flawlessly on the “launch” flight for the new Perth to Paris nonstop service with a touchdown at 6.55 am- just 16.38 hours.

Festivities started at check-in at 4 pm with the Qantas crew adorned in French-styled uniforms, macarons and an Eiffel Tower.

Security was effortless and efficient, although we had to do it twice – once to enter the secure Domestic Terminal 4 and then to enter the International section of Terminal 3.

Qantas’s International Lounge was dressed in French themes – from staff to the food and of course Champagne flowed.

The atmosphere was subdued but upbeat – we were going to pioneer another first for Australia’s iconic airline, which is the world’s longest-operating and most experienced airline as proven by AirlineRatings.com.*

That experience wasn’t on show as it is behind the scenes where passengers never venture – Qantas’s pilot training facilities, its engineering teams and its operations headquarters at Mascot which monitor the heartbeat of its aircraft in real-time 24/7 via Satellite.

If the slightest issue is detected a team of pilots, engineers and weather experts are in the operations centre to work through fixes or diversions if required.

After the massive impact of COVID and the difficult global post-COVID supply chain shortages that have played havoc on the entire airline industry, one senses that Qantas is now in blue skies, with staff upbeat that the worst is behind them and the airline.

Boarding the Boeing 787, one of 14 the airline has, was effortless with passengers being waved on board with French flags – a nice touch.

The cabin crew were equally engaged in the spirit of Bon Voyage.

My seat was 8A in Business Class - what a treat! Take-off was effortless with the 787’s General Electric engines that burn an incredible 34% less fuel per passenger than an A380 sending us skywards in just 35 seconds. Impressive!

The usual drinks service in business class was delayed as the media contingent was given two hours to do interviews with executives, the captain and commentators including myself. Once done, the service started.

READ: Our Economy Class Review of the Perth- Paris Direct flight

The menu was impressive with a choice of four starters and four mains followed by a cheese plate or ice cream sandwich.

The entree selection was:

• Plant-based dining – pumpkin and ginger soup with croutons

• Pumkin and ginger soup with chive crème fraiche

• Salad of buffalo mozzarella with balsamic roasted capsicum, pickled onions and hazelnut vinaigrette

• Confit duck and mushroom vol au vent with pickled fennel, roast lemon and radicchio salad

The Confit duck sounded good and it was.

For the main course more tantalising choices;

• Bouillabaisse of snapper and Skull Island prawns with potatoes and saffron aioli.

• Angel hair pasta with broccoli, garlic, pine nuts and chilli

• Coq au vin with pancetta, mushroom, potato puree and snow peas

• Barrington Hinterland beef fillet with roast pumpkin, snap peas and wasabi butter

, I couldn't go past Bouillabaisse of snapper and Skull Island prawns.

An ice-cream sandwich finished off a great meal and now it was time for sleep. I don’t sleep well on planes as a rule but this flight was different with eight hours of slumber, which was just what I needed.

Mid-flight there were more options but I passed as I had ordered a full breakfast which arrived about 2 hours before landing.

The mid-flight selection was;

• Toasted BLT sandwich

• Crudites with wattle seed and beetroot dip, native Australian greens and Persian feta

• Stir-fried Tiger Prawns with spicy sambal sauce, snake beans and fried shallots

The breakfast selection was excellent with three hot choices.

They were:

• Free-range scrambled eggs with potato rosti, bacon and cherry tomato salad

• Buttermilk pancakes with spice orange compote, mascarpone and pecans

• Herbed ricotta and egg white omelette with sunflower seed romesco, spinach and cherry tomatoes

On arrival in Paris, passengers were greeted by a Kangaroo and Quokka along with another flag-waving troupe of Qantas staff, offering croissants and orange juice. Wish all the flights were like this.

For the record, our 787 cruised at a ground speed of up to 922km/hour and tracked north-west from Perth across the southern tip of India to Oman, overhead Dubai into the Persian Gulf over Iraq up through Turkey and then directly to Paris.

Read our Economy Review here.

Geoffrey Thomas was a guest of Qantas.

SEE: Geoffrey Thomas Talks Up Perth-Paris service

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