Former Deputy Prime Minister, Tim Fisher, proposed Adelaide to be lobbying Qantas to set up a direct pathway from South Australia to Europe through a new fleet of Dreamliners.
The National Party leader, Trade minister and chairman of Tourism Australia gave a speech in Adelaide Club advocating the business and tourism to advocate Adelaide Airport to host the second wave of Qantas 787s which will make the gateway for European tourism and an attractive exit lounge for out bound travellers.
Early next year Qantas is set to bring in direct flights from Perth to London with its first fleet of Boeing 787s.The second tranche of Dreamliners will take flights from 2018 which will pave way for the second-nonstop route into Europe.
Fischer emphasized that there are plenty of advantages of having a terminal building which caters to both domestic and international allowing a seamless connection to Adelaide Airport.
The distance between Adelaide to Athens route is shorter then between Perth and London. However, the main Adelaide runway is the same as that of Perth.
He mentioned about the Perth-London option that people going to Europe will be able to avoid the hassles of an overcrowded Heathrow.
He further added that Athens has a 21st century airport and was opened for the 2004 Olympics having a good hub capacity with the rest of the Europe and closer to Australia.
Fischer was the first resident Ambassador to the Holy See of Rome from 2008 to 2012.
