Qantas picks London for first record-breaking non-stop flights from Sydney

TOULOUSE, France – Qantas Airways on June 17 announced London as the first destination for the world’s longest direct commercial flight, a roughly 20-hour trip from Sydney eliminating the traditional stopover on the “Kangaroo Route”.

The Australian carrier plans to start selling tickets in February and launch the flights in October 2027, CEO Vanessa Hudson told an event in Toulouse, France.

The flights are part of the airline’s “Project Sunrise” initiative, which will later serve New York using modified Airbus A350-1000ULR jets designed to fly up to 22 hours with 238 passengers on board.

The announcement is part of a fleet overhaul that began in 2017 when Qantas challenged Airbus and Boeing to develop planes capable of ultra-long-haul non-stop routes from Australia.

“Australia’s distance from the rest of the world should never stand in the way,” Hudson said before unveiling the first Airbus jet, displayed in bright sunlight without its Rolls-Royce XWB-97 engines because of the early stage of its testing.

The aim is to cut what was once a five-day trek on the “Kangaroo Route” to London to around 19 to 21 hours, depending on routing and winds. Qantas will use polar routes about a quarter of the time, especially during the northern hemisphere winter. The trip now takes some 24 to 25 hours via Singapore.

The project is a major gamble for Qantas, involving billions of dollars in aircraft, cabin upgrades and research into passenger health on ultra-long flights.

To succeed, the carrier must convince travellers to pay more to avoid layovers, while minimising the discomfort from long flights.

“What they are selling is time, and they absolutely need to get a premium on all the cabins, particularly business and premium economy,” said aviation analyst John Strickland.

Qantas named Project Sunrise after the airline’s double sunrise endurance flights during World War II, which remained airborne long enough to see two sunrises.

The airline has estimated the project could add more than A$400 million (S$360 million) a year to earnings. Hudson said in February this assumed ticket prices of around 20 per cent higher than one-stop alternatives in premium cabins.

But analysts say high energy prices resulting from the Gulf conflict have raised the breakeven threshold.

Jefferies analysts said in an April note – after the initial US-Iran ceasefire but before this week’s interim peace deal – that passengers were likely to continue favouring direct routes to Europe via Perth or shifting from Middle Eastern to Asian hubs through 2027.

“Consequently, we expect a positive market for Project Sunrise flights to London,” they said.

Gulf carriers such as Emirates, which redrew the aviation map around their hubs, are expected to defend their market share. Australia on Wednesday lifted a months-long “do not travel” warning on Gulf hubs that had invalidated most travel insurance policies even for transit passengers.

Airbus won the Project Sunrise order in 2019 after an intense battle with Boeing’s 777X.

Earlier this month, Airbus carried out the first test flight for one of 12 modified A350-1000ULR planes ordered by Qantas.

The 238-seat planes feature an extra rear-centre fuel tank helping to increase the range by 1,852 km to 10,000 nautical miles. The flights are so long that much of the fuel is used merely to carry the weight of the rest of the fuel.

The first aircraft is due for delivery in April 2027, about five years later than originally expected due to the Covid-19 pandemic and supply chain delays.

Reuters reported this month that Qantas is in talks to buy 20 more wide-body jets from Airbus or Boeing, with the smaller A350-900 or more Boeing 787s under consideration. REUTERS