In June 1944, Qantas Empire Airways began service with the first of two converted LB-30 Liberators on the Perth to Colombo route to augment Consolidated PBY Catalinas that had been used since May 1943. The Double Sunrise route across the Indian Ocean was long, the longest non-stop airline route in the world at the time. The Liberators flew a shorter over-water route from Learmonth to an airfield northeast of Colombo, but they could make the flight in 17 hours with a payload, whereas the Catalinas required 27 hours and had to carry so much auxiliary fuel that their payload was limited to only . The route was named "Kangaroo Service" and marked the first time that Qantas's now-famous Kangaroo logo was used; passengers received a certificate proclaiming them as members of "The Order of the Longest Hop". The Liberators were later replaced by Avro Lancastrians.