The world’s longest nonstop flight will be delayed by a few months, according to a press release from Qantas. The Australian flag carrier has pushed back the launch of “Project Sunrise”—its record-breaking direct connections between Sydney and London Heathrow and New York.
According to the development schedule, the Sydney-London route (which is so long at around 20 hours, it will treat passengers to the experience of two sunrises, hence the name) should have commenced in early 2027. Instead, it will not be in full operation until the autumn of that year, a spokesperson said. The confirmed start date and inaugural destination will be unveiled at an event at the Airbus HQ in Toulouse in June.
@qantas Another moment our #ProjectSunrise fans have been waiting for… 🌅 The first @Airbus #A3501000ULR ♬ original sound – Qantas
The issue is with the delivery of the twelve custom-made Airbus A350 1000s due to serve the ultra long haul route, jets which need to be specially configured with 62 fewer seats than usual to allow extra comfort, wellness zones, and, in first class, an armchair a bed, sliding doors, private wardrobe and storage, and a 32” HD screen, as well as mood lighting, humidity, and temperature controls. Perhaps most importantly, though, the Airbus require an extra fuel tank to give it the capacity needed to see out the distance.
The first of the bespoke jets will be delivered in April 2027, and “the next four will follow in quick succession, putting us back on our original schedule by November,” the spokesperson said.
Some would point out that it is not quite accurate to say the carrier will be “back on our original schedule.” The project will, in fact, have been in the pipeline for a decade by the time any planes hit the skies. In 2017, Qantas chief Alan Joyce announced the ambition to operate nonstop flights, with a full payload, taking passengers “Sydney-London, Brisbane-Paris and Melbourne-New York.”
At least one of those legs was supposed to come into service in 2022, but was suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Airbus received the aircraft order in May 2022, and at the time, flights were supposed to commence before the end of 2025.
Cynics might question the timing of the Qantas announcement, given that the ultra-long-haul route is being born into a world of ultra-high jet fuel costs due to the US-Israel war on Iran. But others point out that the geopolitical instability around the Middle East is only increasing the Aussie carrier’s business case, as travellers seek out alternative long-haul flights that are not reliant on unreliable stopovers in Gulf state nations.
