Everything we know about Qantas’ ultra-long-range Project Sunrise service
Updated ,first published
Toulouse: Qantas has announced that by 2027, Australians will finally be able to board a flight in Sydney and get off in London without a single stop.
The first Project Sunrise flights will be the world’s longest commercial flights (up to 22 hours) on a specially modified Airbus A350-1000ULR (for ultra-long range).
“For Australians, the tyranny of distance will finally be conquered,” chief executive Vanessa Hudson said.
He said the flights would save customers up to four hours compared to the fastest one-stop service you can get today.
“It will give our customers something no other airline in the world can give them – the choice to fly from Sydney to London without changing planes anywhere along the way.”
Flights are planned to begin in October 2027. Tickets will go on sale in February 2027. Qantas said it will soon become the second destination for 22-hour direct flights from Sydney to New York when flights to Sydney begin.
“The A350 will give us the ability to connect the East Coast of Australia to London and New York, and that will be the starting point,” said Hudson, pointing to Qantas’ historic role in keeping Australia connected to Europe during the Second World War.
Flights are expected to leave Sydney in the early afternoon and arrive in London in the early morning. Hudson said Project Sunrise’s flights from Melbourne would depend on future demand and did not make any commitments to them.
“If we see the demand, we can [to] “We will gradually release routes over the next two and a half years as new aircraft arrive,” said Hudson. “So demand may change, we know how demand may change and we will be responsive to that.”
Nearly a decade after Project Sunrise was announced by Qantas, the first aircraft continued test flights while the second was painted in Qantas livery.
The announcement of the program comes nearly a month after Airbus announced that the first A350-1000ULR would not be delivered to Qantas until 2027, rather than an earlier expectation of 2026.
Hudson announced the program at a meeting of invited journalists and industry experts at the Airbus manufacturing facility in Toulouse, France.
With the first flight date firmly set, the risks for Qantas increase; Production delays to date have slowed deliveries of Airbus planes, particularly because cabin interiors take time to produce and safety certification requires more time.
The Airbus on display was named Vega, in honor of one of the World War II-era Double Sunrise Catalina aircraft that inspired the term “Project Sunrise.” But in a sign of restrictions in aircraft production, the aircraft was not yet fitted with an engine.
While Qantas denied the engine shortage was due to production issues, Hudson instead said it was “withdrawing production to be here, present and enjoy the moment”.
There are engines from the separate Project Sunrise aircraft on which test flights were made.
The aircraft manufacturing industry has not fully recovered from the fraying of supply lines that occurred during the COVID pandemic, when commercial aviation slowly slowed.
“It will also enable us as national carrier Qantas to do what we know is a fundamental part of our purpose in times of need, whether it’s war, whether it’s weather, whether it’s a crisis of some kind, which is to fly to any point in the world to repatriate Australians in need,” Hudson said of Project Sunrise.
The A350-1000 ULR can fly more than 16,000 km, carrying 238 passengers in four cabins.
Finance chief Rob Marcolina dismissed concerns that the reopening of traditional Middle East routes, which is expected to trigger a fierce long-haul price war on flights to Australia, would squeeze Qantas’ plans to launch non-stop services from Sydney to London and New York.
While major Gulf airlines such as Qatar Airways, Etihad and Qantas’ codeshare partner Emirates are expected to reduce fares, Marcolina argued that Qantas was targeting a distinctly different market segment from airlines that compete on price alone.
More than two-thirds of the airline’s international passengers are premium leisure travelers, he said.
“They are willing to pay a premium not only to fly direct but also to get the Qantas service and the Qantas product,” Marcolina said, adding: “It may not be the people who will find flying in the Middle East attractive.”
Linus Benjamin Bauer, founder of Singapore-based BAA & Partners, said “one-stop routing exposes the journey into two parts and a hub that may itself be located near a risk zone.”
Because the Project Sunrise product reduces the number of points at which a trip can be spoiled, especially when airspace becomes contested, “the first-class traveler’s willingness to pay for less dependency increases with it.”
The reporter traveled to France with permission from Qantas.
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