In the 1920s, travel through many parts of the outback usually meant a long voyage in a car or coach. It would be a rough trip in dry weather, and often was impossible in wet weather. Two former pilots of the Australian Flying Corps – Hudson Fysh and Paul McGinness – realised how convenient air travel would be for many people in the area. They formed the Queensland and Northern Territory Aerial Services (Q.A.N.T.A.S.) in 1920 – the world’s second oldest airline. Their first aeroplane was an Avro 540K which was used as an air taxi, for charter work, and to give joy rides. The first Quantas scheduled flight was from Charleville to Cloncurry on 2 November 1922. These flights transformed the lives of many people in the outback. Qantas is the only airline whose passengers have never died in a crash on an international flight.

The young Australian airline Qantas made its first international flight in 1934. At this time it took 13 days to fly from Brisbane to London – with many stops along the way, and two legs of the journey (from Cairo to Alexandria, and from Brindisi to Paris) by train. This was a journey that took many weeks by ship. Suddenly people felt less isolated from the other side of the world. By this time Qantas was also able to advertise what must have seemed incredible to people used to spending days in travel – only ten hours from Longreach to Brisbane. This was not a direct flight – the planes stopped in five towns along the way.