More flights with extra capacity key to making non-stop flights between hemispheres a reality

NON-STOP flights between Australia’s east coast and the northern hemisphere are one step closer to becoming a reality with Airbus and Qantas discussing configurations, including bunk beds and cabins.

PLANS for long-haul direct flights to London, Capetown or New York from Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane are taking shape with manufacturer Airbus and Qantas having held talks now to be the first to connect Australia’s eastern seaboard non-stop with the northern hemisphere.

And fear not, passengers are not likely to be lumped shoulder-to-shoulder for the excruciating 18-20 hour haul schlep, with configurations to include reduced seating capacity, bunk beds in the cargo hold, exercise areas and lounges and even private cabins to make the flight more palatable.

Meeting in Sydney for the global aviation industry’s International Air Transport Association (IATA) summit, Airbus chief commercial officer Eric Schultz confirmed yesterday talks were progressing well with Qantas on developing “Project Sunrise”, including now a redesign of the ultra-long-haul version of the aerospace giant’s A350-1000.

The Qantas Dreamliner QF9 as it prepares to make its first ever direct flight to London.

The project, launched by Qantas CEA Alan Joyce last year, called on industry giants Airbus and Boeing to make the non-stop flight a reality by 2022 between Australia’s east coast to destinations including Sydney-London, Brisbane-Paris and Melbourne-New York as well as non-stop to Capetown and Rio de Jeniero.

Mr Schultz said the all-new product did not exist on the market today and was at the “extreme of aviation” and so consideration included how such a flight would be pitched and priced and the effect that would have on configuration.

But he said smaller aircraft capacities and greater frequency of flights on these new routes could be the key.

He confirmed talks with Qantas showed the Australian airline had “matured the concept” and options such as bunk beds and exercise areas were “interesting” but everything was on the table.

Airbus' future potential sleeping cabins. Picture: Supplied

“They have a bit of homework to do before they get to the final position that will define exactly what they want,” he said.

“It is part of the products we are looking at but this is exactly what we have to do with Qantas to really define, what sort of cabin configuration — is it a three class or four class plus bed?”

He added: “People stuck together for 17 hours, 18 hours or 19 hours, that’s a long time, so you need to ensure you have a product that ultimately the marketing people … believe the market needs and they can sell.”

Qantas’ newest Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner now flying non-stop between Perth and London. Picture: James Morgan

Airbus was putting up a redesigned option of both the A350-1000 and A350-900, both of which are already in use by Qatar and Singapore Airlines, for the ultra-long-range future routes between the hemispheres and options being considered included modified engines and also extra fuel cells. Airbus expects about 50-100 ultra-long-haul aircraft would be made for the global market including Air New Zealand.

Meanwhile, airfares could rise next year amid warnings from aviation’s peak body IATA that the rising cost of fuel, taxes and labour would bite in 2019.

IATA Chief Executive Alexandre de Juniac has said airline profitability was still solid but the industry normally had an eight to 10-year-cycle “and we are at nine years”.

He is later to issue a “less positive” outlook forecast later on Monday for the industry based on the likelihood the price of a barrel of oil was expected to rise to $80.

Originally published as More flights with extra capacity key to making non-stop flights between hemispheres a reality