Qantas announces start date for ‘Project Sunrise’ flights

It’s the “project” that’s been in the works for half a decade. Now, Qantas has announced the launch date for the world’s longest plane route.

Goodbye to lengthy layovers, and hello to ultra-long haul.

Qantas CEO Alan Joyce has annouced the start date of the elusive direct routes from Sydney to London and even to New York at a “significant announcement” in Sydney on Monday.

Almost three years since the routes were tested in 2019, the non-stop flights finally have a place within the airline’s international network.

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Qantas CEO Alan Joyce has announced when ‘Project Sunrise’ will launch. Picture: Toby Zerna

Dubbed ‘Project Sunrise’, these flight routes take long-haul to the next level, with each leg sitting around 20 hours in the air and set to cut up to four hours off the total travel time compared with one-stop options today.

“The A350 and Project Sunrise will make any city just one flight away from Australia,” Mr Joyce said.

“It’s the last frontier and the final fix for the tyranny of distance.”

Despite being in the works for almost five years, Mr Joyce said the non-stop routes — which will be the longest flights in the world — will be up in the air by the end of 2025. Prior to the pandemic, Qantas had said ‘Project Sunrise’ would launch as early as next year.

“The first Project sunrise flights will be from New York and London, but the aircraft will also be able to operate non-stop flights to Australia from destinations such as Paris and Frankfurt,” Mr Joyce said.

“The Qantas A350 travel experience will be truly exceptional, particularly across the premium cabins. Our First and Business Class seats will be a new benchmark for premium long-haul travel.”

The new aircraft will carry 238 passengers across four classes, being First, Business, Premium Economy and Economy.

Qantas will launch the non-stop flights to Sydney and New York in 2025.

It’s not the first ‘direct’ route the airline has between Australia and London.

In 2018, Qantas started non-stop flights from Perth, in Western Australia, to London that take 17 hours to carry passengers 14,500km or 9,000 miles. That port was shifted to Darwin in 2021 due to ongoing Covid-19 related border closures enforced by the McGowan government.

Qantas completed the London to Sydney leg in 2019, just the second time the route had been completed in 30 years by the airline. Picture: Mark Metcalfe/Getty Images.

In a further announcement, Mr Joyce discussed how the routes will be serviced, with the airline ordering up to a dozen Airbus A350-1000s, which will be able to fly to any city in the world.

The aircraft to service the routes will be fitted with specially adapted fuel tanks to make the flights possible.

Qantas said the while demand for the ultra-long haul flight was high prior to the pandemic, interest and demand for non-stop flights had grown even more so in the past year.

More to come