Qantas Reveals London As First Non-Stop Project Sunrise Flight
Are you ready for 22 hours in Economy? Qantas thinks so...
Qantas’ ambitious Project Sunrise plans are closer to becoming a reality with the airline declaring Sydney-London as its first ultra-long route. Passengers will still have to wait a while for flights to begin, with Qantas now getting its first A350-1000ULR in April 2027.
Sydney-London flights will commence from October 2027, with tickets on sale from February 2027. Sydney-New York is the next route to follow, with the launch date to be announced in 2027. Flights from Melbourne are also expected at a later date.
It’s been a long time coming, with Qantas first setting the challenge to Airbus and Boeing in 2017, to build an aircraft capable of operating what will become the world’s longest flights. The challenge encouraged Airbus to extend the range of its existing A350-1000 jet, adding an extra fuel tank to create the A350-1000ULR variant, with Qantas as the launch customer.
The Airbus A350 also operates the world’s current longest flight, from Singapore to New York JFK for Singapore Airlines. But it’s the smaller A350-900ULR, fitted only with business class and premium economy. Qantas’ variant will come in a four-class layout, spanning economy, premium economy, business class and first class.
“In 2017, we put the challenge out to Boeing and Airbus, and Airbus absolutely has stepped up,” Qantas Group CEO Vanessa Hudson told Flight Hacks during a media visit to the Airbus factory in Toulouse, France.
“We know what customers want,” adds Hudson. “No one in 2017 would've known that we would've been here having just seen what conflict has occurred (in the Middle East). But I think it's only helped to strengthen the desire that we see in our customers to fly more point to point, to avoid the midpoint – to want to do that with a premium experience and be prepared to pay a premium for it.”
Hudson says that Perth-London has been the test case for Project Sunrise, demonstrating demand tor flying “most of the Kangaroo Route in a single flight”.
Qantas has 12 Airbus A350-1000ULRs on order. With the first set for delivery in April 2027, the second plane of the set is currently undergoing testing and certification. Qantas expects its Sydney-London flights to become daily before other routes are introduced.
As for Melbourne, Qantas CFO Rob Marcolina adds that “if you just look at the size of the market … 70% of Qantas international being premium leisure, that's why we made the decision to go with Sydney. Either (Sydney or Melbourne) would have been a great choice, but again, one of them had to go first and I think we're really comfortable with it coming out of Sydney.”
Subject to availability, reward seat bookings using Qantas Points on Project Sunrise flights will become available when commercial flights go on sale: February 2027, for Sydney-London.
The Challenges Behind Qantas' Longest Flights
While today's announcement marks a major milestone, Project Sunrise remains one of the biggest gambles in Qantas' history. The airline is betting billions of dollars that travellers will be willing to spend almost an entire day onboard an aircraft in exchange for avoiding a stopover.
That convenience is unlikely to come cheap. Qantas has previously suggested that passengers could pay a premium of around 20% for these flights, compared to traditional one-stop services between Australia and Europe or North America.
The project has also been a long time coming. When unveiled in 2017, Qantas hoped to launch flights by 2022. However, delays in placing the aircraft order, Airbus supply chain disruptions and engineering changes required to support the ultra-long-range missions have pushed the timeline back by five years.
Full Disclosure
Chris visited the Airbus factory in Toulouse as a guest of Qantas and Airbus.
