Australia’s Qantas Airways announced on Wednesday that it will be the first destination for the world’s longest non-stop commercial flight. It is a journey of around 20 hours from , which does away with the traditional stopover on the legendary Kangaroo Route.
As the company’s CEO Vanessa Hudson said from Toulouse, France, the carrier plans to start pre-selling tickets next February, while flights are expected to debut in October 2027.
“Project Sunrise” and specially modified Airbuses
These flights are part of the company’s ‘Project Sunrise’ initiative, which will also include routes to New York. For this purpose, modified Airbus A350-1000ULR aircraft will be used, which have the ability to fly up to 22 hours continuously, carrying 238 passengers.
The announcement is the culmination of a radical restructuring of Qantas’ fleet, which began in 2017 when the company challenged Airbus and Boeing to develop aircraft capable of ultra-long, direct flights from Australia.
“Australia’s distance from the rest of the world should never be a barrier,” Hudson said, showing off one of the modified Airbus planes, which had just left the paint shop without the Rolls-Royce XWB-97 engines installed.
Qantas named the initiative ‘Project Sunrise’ after the company’s historic endurance flights during World War II, which stayed in the air for so long that passengers saw the sunrise twice.
A 20-hour “jump” over the Earth’s poles
The aim is to reduce the ‘Kangaroo Route’ journey to London, which once took five days, to a single ‘hop’ of 19 to 21 hours, depending on the route and winds.
Qantas will use polar routes on around 25% of flights, mainly during the Northern Hemisphere winter.
Today, the same journey takes about 24 to 25 hours with a stopover in Singapore.
This is a huge financial risk for Qantas, as it involves billions of dollars of investment in aircraft, cabin upgrades and scientific research into the health of passengers during such long-haul flights.
The bet of jet lag and the price battle
For the venture to succeed, the company must convince travelers to pay more in order to avoid surcharges while minimizing the inconvenience of long hours in the air. Hudson noted that Qantas has been involved in academic research into jet lag, exercise, hydration, lighting and in-flight meal times.
“What they’re selling is time and they absolutely need to secure a premium across all seats, especially business and premium economy,” commented airline analyst John Strickland.
New data and geopolitical challenges
Qantas is hoping to repeat the success of its Perth-London flights, where it has achieved a 20% all-seats surcharge compared to stopover routes.
It is noted that the company has temporarily changed the route Perth-London, via Singapore, due to the disturbances in the airspace of the Middle East. “We will restore our network to where it was before the war when things calm down,” Hudson said, without specifying a timeline.
Qantas estimates Project Sunrise could add more than A$400 million (US$283 million) a year to its profits, with Jefferies analysts predicting a particularly positive response from the market.
On the other hand, Gulf carriers such as Emirates, which have redefined the global aviation map around their own hubs, are expected to defend their market share. Meanwhile, Australia on Wednesday lifted a months-long “do not travel” travel advisory for Gulf air hubs that had canceled most travel insurance policies, even for passengers in transit.
It is recalled that Airbus won the order for “Project Sunrise”, in 2019, after a tough battle with Boeing’s 777X model. Earlier this month, Airbus conducted the first test flight for one of 12 modified A350-1000ULR aircraft ordered by Qantas.
