Qantas says pilots approve pay deal covering Sydney-London flights

SYDNEY (Reuters) – Australia’s Qantas Airways Ltd said on Monday that pilots had voted in favor of a pay deal that would pave the way for the airline to fly the world’s longest non-stop commercial flights from Sydney to London.

Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the airline has canceled all of its international flights through at least the end of May and pushed a decision on whether to order up to 12 Airbus SE A350-1000 planes for the flights to the end of the year from an earlier deadline of end-March.

If the order proceeds, the flights could start in the first half of 2023.

(Reporting by Jamie Freed; Editing by Kim Coghill)