Qantas Airways flight QF9: First non-stop flight from Australia to UK lands at Heathrow

The first direct flight from Australia to the UK has landed at Heathrow airport after an epic 17-hour flight.

Qantas 9 (QF9) touched down at Terminal Three at 5.02 am (GMT) after setting off from Perth at 7pm local time (11am GMT) on Saturday covering 9,226 miles.

The Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner took just over 17 hours to complete the journey, arriving slightly earlier than the scheduled arrival time of 5.10am.

The UK's longest non-stop regular passenger flight will set off back for Perth at 1.15 pm local time on Sunday.

The route is almost a quarter longer than the UK's existing longest service, operated by Garuda Indonesia between Heathrow and Jakarta (7,275 miles).

The new link with Perth is around three hours quicker than routes which involve stopping in the Middle East to change planes or refuel.

It also enables faster journeys to Sydney and Melbourne than flying via Dubai.

Western Australia's premier, Mark McGowan, was among more than 200 passengers to arrive on the flight.

He tweeted a picture of the Australian delegation of politicians and officials, the flight's pilots and a didgeridoo player in Aboriginal dress and body paint at the terminal.