The Los Angeles Rams have officially arrived Down Under, and their journey to Australia was almost as interesting as the historic NFL game they’re about to play.
The Rams flew nonstop from Los Angeles (LAX) to Melbourne (MEL) aboard a specially chartered Qantas Airbus A380, touching down Thursday morning local time ahead of Friday’s game against the San Francisco 49ers at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG). It will be the first regular-season NFL game ever played in Australia.
According to FlightAware, Qantas flight QF338 departed LAX at 10:10 p.m. PDT Tuesday and landed in Melbourne at 6:02 a.m. AEST Thursday. The flight time was 14 hours and 52 minutes. And if you think packing for a family vacation is difficult, imagine packing for an NFL team.
More than 20 tons of equipment and 2,000 meals
More than 20 tons of equipment and 2,000 mealsQantas operated charters for both teams, flying the Rams from Los Angeles and the 49ers from San Francisco aboard Airbus A380s.
According to Qantas, each charter covered approximately 12,900 kilometers (about 8,000 miles) and was staffed by four pilots, 22 cabin crew members and a traveling charter manager.
Between the two flights, the teams brought more than 20 tons of equipment. There was also so much food onboard that some of the catering had to be stored in the overhead bins. Qantas says more than 2,000 meals were loaded across the two flights. But these weren’t exactly your typical airline meals.
Qantas worked with each team’s nutrition staff to create menus specifically designed for NFL players. The airline says it loaded more protein than on almost any other Qantas flight.
Even familiar menu items were supersized. Steak sandwiches came with extra steak, while cheeseburgers, meats and side dishes were served in double portions. Considering the size of NFL players and how much fuel their bodies require, I can’t say I’m surprised.
Every Rams player had a lie-flat bed
Every Rams player had a lie-flat bedFlying almost 15 hours from Los Angeles to Melbourne isn’t easy for anyone, especially when you’re expected to play an NFL game roughly a day after landing. But the Rams certainly weren’t squeezed into coach for the journey.
Before the trip, Rams head coach Sean McVay said every player would have access to a lie-flat bed onboard, with the goal of getting them to sleep for much of the flight so they could arrive in Melbourne as rested as possible.
Byron Young shared a video from the Rams’ flight to Australia, and the plane is *crazy* nice.
(via Byron Young/Instagram) pic.twitter.com/SqjQRcfnac
— Cameron DaSilva (@camdasilva) September 9, 2026
Rams linebacker Byron Young gave fans a peek inside the charter when he posted a video from onboard the Qantas A380. The video (embedded above) shows just how much space the team had to spread out on the massive double-decker aircraft. If you’re going to transport an entire NFL team halfway around the world, there aren’t many aircraft better suited to the job than an Airbus A380.
I know that flight to Australia well. I’ve been Down Under at least seven times and have flown Qantas numerous times, including in Business Class. I was also fortunate enough to be one of the first people to experience Qantas’ A380 when I took part in a special media preview flight with John Travolta and the late Olivia Newton-John. Needless to say, that was a flight I’ll never forget.
Qantas’ A380s feature First Class suites, Business Class seats that convert into fully flat beds, Premium Economy and Economy. There’s also a lounge area for First and Business Class passengers. Of course, this wasn’t a normal commercial flight with regular passengers onboard, which allowed the Rams to spread players throughout the aircraft and prioritize sleep and recovery.
For a group consisting of huge professional athletes, coaches, trainers, staff and mountains of equipment, having all that space certainly doesn’t hurt. And if you’re going to spend nearly 15 hours on an airplane before playing professional football, having a bed instead of an Economy Class seat is about as good as it gets.
Same airline, completely different travel strategies
What’s especially fascinating is that while both teams crossed the Pacific aboard Qantas A380s, their approaches to this trip couldn’t have been more different.
The 49ers left California last week and arrived in Australia on Friday, giving themselves nearly a full week to recover from the long flight, adjust their body clocks, practice in Melbourne and acclimate to the 17-hour time difference from California. By the beginning of game week, head coach Kyle Shanahan said his players were feeling refreshed after taking a couple of days to adjust.
The Rams did almost the exact opposite. They remained in Southern California for most of the week, maintained their regular practice schedule and didn’t depart LAX until Tuesday night. Their A380 touched down in Melbourne at 6:02 a.m. Thursday, roughly 28½ hours before kickoff at 10:35 a.m. Friday.
The Rams are essentially treating the NFL’s longest road trip as an extraordinarily long business trip. The team is expected to spend only about one night in Melbourne before playing and heading home.
I wrote yesterday about the two teams’ radically different approaches and why, as a traveler, I would much rather follow the 49ers’ strategy. Give me a few days to recover, hydrate, get some decent sleep and figure out what day it is.
But there is some sports science behind what the Rams are doing. By arriving so late, the team may be able to keep players’ internal clocks closer to Pacific Time rather than fully adjusting to Australia. Friday’s 10:35 a.m. kickoff in Melbourne is 5:35 p.m. Thursday in Los Angeles, which could potentially work in the Rams’ favor from a performance standpoint.
Still, getting off a nearly 15-hour flight and playing an NFL game roughly a day later sounds brutal to me.
Now we’ll find out which travel strategy worked
The Rams and 49ers kick off at Melbourne Cricket Ground at 10:35 a.m. Friday local time, which is 5:35 p.m. Thursday in Los Angeles and 8:35 p.m. on the East Coast. The game will stream on Netflix.
By then, the 49ers will have been in Australia for almost a week.
The Rams will have been there for barely more than a day. Two completely different philosophies about how to handle one of the longest road trips in professional sports.
We’ll soon find out which one worked better.
