Qantas Dreamliner smashes speed record on Perth to London flight

A Qantas Boeing 787-9 has set the record for the fastest flight time between Australia and the UK. Photo / Supplied

A new record has been set by Qantas for the fastest ever passenger flight time from Australia to the UK.

The Boeing 787-9 from Perth to London Heathrow completed the journey in 16 hours and 29 minutes instead of the scheduled 17 hours and 20 minutes.

This means that a total of almost an hour was slashed off the expected flight time and beats the previous record of 16 hours and 35 minutes, also set by Qantas, according to the Daily Mail.

In fact, the QF9 service that left Perth on Tuesday evening was so quick, it is understood that the flight crew was warned that it could arrive too early, according to airlineratings.com.

This is because Heathrow has a curfew on planes taking off and landing at night and the plane touched down at 4.36am local time - just minutes after the restrictions were lifted.

The 9,000 mile service also marked another milestone as it was the first time the Perth to London leg, which flies against prevailing winds, was quicker than the return trip from the UK to Australia.

The airline's chief technical pilot, Alex Passerini, has previously revealed the biggest issue for the flight path is struggling with headwinds.

He explained: "It is the most technically challenging route that Qantas flies today because of that complexity of the airspace that we deal with and some of the challenges that poses."

The Dreamliner aircraft used on the route boasts of a number of advantages over other models, including lower cabin noise, larger windows, improved air quality and technology to reduce turbulence.

The plane has 42 business class flat-bed seats, 28 premium economy seats and 166 economy seats.

It carries around 92 tonnes or 110,000 litres of fuel, burning approximately 20 per cent less than traditional aircraft its size.

There are also more than 21,000 individual items loaded onto the aircraft for each flight including 330 peppermint tea bags and hundreds of chocolate biscuits.

Qantas launched the first non-stop flights between Australia and London in March to enormous fanfare.

The flight is 24 per cent further than the UK's previous longest route, operated by Garuda Indonesia between Heathrow and Jakarta - a measly 7,275 miles in comparison.