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Thou shalt not use the term ‘direct flight’ when you mean ‘non-stop’
Direct is not non-stop
There are 3 types of flights in commercial aviation:
- Non-stop — the passenger goes from point A to point B.
2. Connecting — the passenger goes from point A to point C, changing planes at point B.
3. Direct — the passenger goes from point A to point C, with a stop, but the plane does not change in point B (and possibly points D, E, and F in the old days).
The problem is that many people confuse direct and non-stop and use them interchangeably when they are quite different.
Direct flights were necessary when planes on long-haul routes had limited range, as they had to make fuel stops.
With the advent of more fuel-efficient aircraft and engines, it’s possible to go non-stop between almost any two locations globally.
A textbook example of a direct flight is the Kangaroo Route. This was Australian flag carrier Qantas’ London-bound services from Australia due to how the flight hopped its way across to London in its early years. At its peak, there were as many as seven stops.
Now, Qantas is experimenting with making the Kangaroo Route non-stop. In 2019, a Qantas Boeing 787 Dreamliner completed a…
