By Plane
Australia is a long, long haul from anywhere except New Zealand. Sydney is a nearly 15-hour nonstop flight from Los Angeles, longer if you come via Honolulu. From the East Coast, add 5 1/2 hours. If you're coming from the States via Auckland, add transit time in New Zealand plus another 3 hours for the Auckland-Sydney leg. If you are coming from the United Kingdom, brace yourself for a flight of 12 hours, more or less, from London to Asia; then possibly a long day in transit, because flights to Australia have a habit of arriving in Asia early in the morning and departing around midnight; and finally the 8- to 9-hour flight to Australia.
Sydney (SYD), Cairns (CNS), Melbourne (MEL), Brisbane (BNE), Adelaide (ADL), Darwin (DRW), and Perth (PER) are all international gateways, but most airlines fly only into Sydney. A few fly to Melbourne and Brisbane.
The Major Carriers -- Here are toll-free reservations numbers and websites for the major international airlines serving Australia. The "13" prefix in Australia means that the number incurs the same cost as a local call from anywhere in the country.
Carriers Flying from North America
- Air Canada (tel. 888/247-2262 in the U.S. and Canada, 02/8248 5757 in Sydney, or 1300/655 767 from elsewhere in Australia; www.aircanada.com).
- Air New Zealand (tel. 800/262-1234 in the U.S., 310/615-1111 in the Los Angeles area, 800/663-5494 in Canada, or 13 24 76 in Australia; www.airnewzealand.com).
- Qantas (tel. 800/227-4500 in the U.S. and Canada, or 13 13 13 in Australia; www.qantas.com.au).
- United Airlines (tel. 800/538-2929 in the U.S. and Canada, or 13 17 77 in Australia; www.united.com or www.united.ca).
Carriers Flying from the United Kingdom
- British Airways (tel. 0870/850 9850 in the U.K., 1890/626 747 in Ireland, or 1300/767 177 in Australia; www.britishairways.com).
- Cathay Pacific (tel. 020/8834 8888 in the U.K., or 13 17 47 in Australia; www.cathaypacific.com).
- Malaysia Airlines (tel. 0870/607 9090 in the U.K. and Ireland, or 13 26 27 in Australia; www.malaysiaairlines.com).
- Qantas (tel. 0845/774 7767 in the U.K., or 13 13 13 in Australia; www.qantas.com.au).
- Singapore Airlines (tel. 0844/800 2380 in the U.K., or 13 10 11 in Australia; www.singaporeair.com/uk).
- Thai Airways International (tel. 0870/6060 911 in the U.K., or 1300/651 960 in Australia; www.thaiair.com).
