Southern Cross Route

Southern Cross Route is a term denoting passenger flights from Australasia to Europe via the Western Hemisphere. Although similar the Kangaroo route, its counterpart that runs through the Eastern Hemisphere, this route is much less used.

There are three airlines, offering one-plane flights (i.e not requiring passengers to change plane en route) that operate the Southern Cross Route: Air New Zealand, Air Tahiti Nui and Air France.

Air New Zealand operates the Auckland-Los Angeles-London Heathrow route in addition to its Auckland-Hong Kong-London Heathrow route, making it the only airline offering services on both the Southern Cross Route and the Kangaroo Route. Air Tahiti Nui and Air France both operate a Tahiti-Los Angeles-Paris CDG route.

While they may not be able to offer one-plane service, other airlines do offer passage along this route. United Airlines, as one of two United States airlines flying from the continental United States to Australia, also provides service on this route, but it requires a plane change in the United States.

Air Canada also flies to Sydney from Vancouver using the airline's new Boeing 777 aircraft.

LAN Airlines operates service from Europe via Santiago to a host of South Pacific destinations, including Sydney and Auckland. Aerolineas Argentinas also operates services via Buenos Aires.

In the past, additional service was offered along this route. Air Tahiti Nui briefly operated a Tahiti-New York JFK-Paris CDG route, but it was quickly discontinued. Qantas once operated a round-the-world flight using this route and the Kangaroo route, but service via this route has stopped.