It’s one of the iconic markets, the “Kangaroo Route” between Australia and the United Kingdom is aptly named - once requiring two or even three hops, it’s been a single stop-over for decades.

An increasing share of the routings are through Middle East hubs with Emirates, Qatar Airways and Etihad building their whole business models on connecting traffic. The temporary closure of airspace over parts of the Middle East has disrupted that flow - but the aviation industry is nothing if not resilient, and travellers will return to Dubai, Doha and Abu Dhabi before long. In the short-term, though, does the disruption open a window for others?

Major Gateway Airports Offer Hundreds Of Connecting Opportunities to Australia

Every week, some 2,300 one-stop flights operate between the United Kingdom and Australia across 26 gateways, each lasting eight hours or less. Emirates is the market leader through Dubai, serving eight UK markets with over 580 weekly connections - 50% more than Singapore in second spot. Doha ranks in third place with over 250 weekly connections, with the airlines 49 weekly flights offering more connectivity from London Heathrow than Emirates’ 42 weekly services.

China Southern’s Guangzhou hub ranks just ahead of Etihad and Abu Dhabi thanks to their six-destination Australia network, compared to Etihad’s Sydney and Melbourne focus. Since all those connections originate from London Heathrow with United Airlines as the carrier , the appearance of San Francisco in the top eight connecting points is interesting, as United also offer connections to Sydney and Melbourne via their Los Angeles hub.

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The most and least efficient ways to fly UK-Australia

The distance between London and Sydney is 9,178 nautical miles. For travellers a key consideration is getting to and from their destination in the fastest and most direct manner possible, so routing choice matters. The tightest options to Sydney - via Hong Kong, Taipei or Guangzhou - track at 100% circuitry, meaning zero deviation from the most direct path. Singapore and Kuala Lumpur add barely one percent, or roughly 100 miles.

At the other end of the spectrum is Air Canada’s indirect routing via Toronto, at some 13,215 nautical miles from London to Sydney - with a near eight-hour connection in Toronto and a transit stop in Vancouver - it’s no surprise that AC33 takes two days to arrive in Sydney (although crossing the international date line doesn’t help the routing). In general, taking a westerly routing from the UK to Australia typically results in a 25% longer routing than one that goes via the Middle East, which normally includes less than a 10% deviation from the most direct routing.

There Still are Plenty of Options for Flying to Australia (if They're Not Booked Up)

Despite the current connectivity challenges of travelling via the Middle East, in theory, there remain multiple options to get from one side of the world to the other. However, with the Easter Holiday season approaching many of those alternate routings will have already filled their capacity, especially in the economy cabins, so finding an alternate routing may be a problem. And routing via the USA may require completing extra paperwork - entry forms, ESTA requirements, and even visa submissions in some cases - for passengers who would freely flow through hubs in Asia.

Ultimately, it’s journey time, transfer simplicity and terminal comfort that drive traveller choice — and on all three measures, the Middle East hubs win. The Kangaroo Route will bounce back through Dubai, Doha and Abu Dhabi soon enough.