The age-old adage goes that it’s not about the destination but the journey. While applicable for most situations, no one is jumping for joy at the prospect of a long-haul flight. Air travel is known for its discomfort, so most people want to hop from point A to point B as quickly as possible. The only exception? The passengers on the reintroduced “kangaroo route” flight, where time spent in the clouds is the selling point.
This flight follows the path of Qantas’ first fully operated air travel journey in 1947 from Sydney to London. The original route took four days and made stops in Darwin, Singapore, Kolkata, Karachi, Cairo and Tripoli.
The private chartering and travel company Captain’s Choice has brought this itinerary into the 21st century, taking off at the beginning of February to much fanfare. Business class tickets for the two-week holiday sold out within a couple of days, with travellers undeterred by the $70,000 ticket price. Economy tickets were a breezy $50,000.
For maximum historical authenticity, the price of today’s economy ticket is similar to that in 1947. Adjusting for inflation, the £525 return ticket price equates to approximately $44,000 in 2025 dollars.
However, postwar Australian jet-setters weren’t accompanied by a dedicated suite that included tour guides, doctors, a culinary specialist and a retired Qantas captain. The revived kangaroo route is stretched from four to 14 days, with food and “refined residences” included. Some changes have been made to the original route – Karachi has been swapped for Colombo and Tripoli for Rome. There have been geopolitical shifts since the original kangaroo route took off, with the Department of Foreign Affairs warning against travel to both of these cities.
Unsurprisingly, Aet Maddison, a senior travel specialist at Aero Travel, tells me people “don’t usually take this route up to London”.
Despite this, spending upwards of $50,000 isn’t necessary to hop the full kangaroo route. To do a budget version, Maddison gave me a quote of approximately $9,300, including accommodation, for one person.
While it is significantly less expensive than the going price of a ticket, Maddison stressed that recreating this route on commercial flights would not replicate the convenience of a privately chartered plane. Accommodation options were the same or comparable to hotels featured on the tour, and we tried to match the amount of time Captain’s Choice spent in each city.
Flight price and time breakdown:
Sydney to Darwin: Approx. $450. Travel time: 4hr 25m
Darwin to Singapore: Approx. $470. Travel time: 4hr 25m
Singapore to Kolkata: Approx. $320. Travel time: 4hr 15m
Kolkata via Delhi to Colombo: Approx. $420. Travel time: 9hr 25m
Colombo via Dubai to Cairo: Approx. $580. Travel time: 11hr 45m
Cairo to Rome: Approx. $320. Travel time: 3hr 40m
Rome to Toulouse via Paris: Approx. $400. Travel time: 4hr 35m
Toulouse to London: Approx. $200. Travel time: 2hr
Rome via Paris via Toulouse to London: Approx. $330. Travel time: 12hr 50m
Flight time on Captain’s Choice kangaroo route: 33 hours
Flight time on the budget kangaroo route: 46 hours
Accommodation price breakdown:
One night in Sydney at the Pullman Sydney Airport: Approx. $390
Two nights in Singapore at The Ritz-Carlton Millenia: Approx. $680
Three night in Kolkata at the ITC Royal Bengal: Approx. $340
Three nights in Colombo at the Shangri-La Colombo: Approx. $250
Two nights in Cairo at The St. Regis Cairo: Approx. $250
Two nights in Rome at the Anantara: Approx. $2,800
Two nights in London at Down Hall: Approx. $1,700
Total: $9,300
The convenience of a private plane comes in the form of direct routeing, and the budget itinerary had its fair share of inconvenient layovers, making each part of the trip significantly longer. The Colombo-to-Cairo leg required a layover in Dubai, bringing the total travel time for that day to 11 hours. According to the Captain’s Choice website, the flight time for that portion of the trip is only seven hours and 50 minutes.
But, it would be remiss not to address the elephant in the room: the environmental impact of this odyssey of the sky.
Carbon emissions for the Kangaroo Route have many variabilities, especially as the plane they’re flying, a Qantas Airbus A330-300, is older and not as fuel efficient as newer models. The calculations also can’t account for direct routing, but this flight generates approximately 3,801kg of carbon emissions a passenger.
In comparison, a flight from Sydney to London with a stop in Dubai generates an estimated 1,182 kgs of emissions a passenger. At least two legs of the kangaroo route are possible without flying, by taking a bus from Sydney to Darwin (65 hours), then a train from Rome to London via Milan and Paris (14 hours).
An average direct flight from Sydney to London is 23 hours, and a one-way ticket can cost as little as $1,000 on Qantas.
But Maddison understands why people pay premiums to have someone “guide you through the city, take you to the hotel and look after you”. Travellers feel not only special, but at ease when someone is there to “hold your hand”.
