Qantas, Boeing, Airbus working on longer-haul planes

Qantas engineers are working with Boeing and Airbus on planes that can fly super long-haul routes.

Qantas CEO Alan Joyce speaks at the AGM

Qantas engineers are working with the world’s biggest aircraft manufacturers, Boeing and Airbus, on the carrier’s ambition for planes that can fly super long-haul routes between Australia’s eastern capitals and New York and London.

The flagship carrier was “trying to redefine the aircraft of the future”, Qantas chief executive Alan Joyce told shareholders at yesterday’s annual general meeting, referring to the plan called “Project Sunrise” to get Airbus and Boeing to extend the flying range of their next generation of long-haul planes.

“Our engineers are working very closely with both manufacturers on this super-range aircraft in Project Sunrise that we’ve given the challenge,” he said. “ ... We’re actively looking and evaluating that over the next year.”

If one of the aerospace titans can deliver, Qantas has flagged that it could be flying from the eastern seaboard to cities as far afield as New York and London, as well as possibly Paris, Cape Town and Rio de Janeiro, from 2022.

“Qantas is changing aviation by doing this,” Mr Joyce said.

Earlier, Qantas chairman Leigh Clifford told the meeting that staying at the forefront of technology was important to delivering growth over the long term.

Shareholders voted to elect outgoing Wesfarmers managing director Richard Goyder to the board, and to re-elect William Meaney, Todd Sampson and Paul Rayner. The remuneration report and Mr Joyce’s participation in the long-term incentive plan also got through.

Fielding shareholder questions, Mr Clifford yesterday again defended the airline’s pay practices, which saw Mr Joyce paid $24.6 million last year.

He pointed to the significant rise in the share price since the dark days when Qantas made a loss.

WEB Business Qantas share price

“The effort of management has been rewarded with such a fantastic increase in share price and that contributed to the $24-odd million,” he said.

He also backed Qantas’s support for the campaign for same-sex marriage, declaring “we have never directed others what to think about marriage equality or how to vote in the postal survey”.

Qantas shares yesterday closed down 5.55 per cent to $5.96.

Mr Joyce reiterated warnings that this week rattled investors, that trading conditions would “toughen somewhat” in the second half of the 2018 financial year, mostly because of higher fuel costs and more capacity growth from international rivals. However, he said the carrier was “on track for another successful year”.

Asked about Qantas’s striking turnaround in the past few years, Mr Clifford said there was “no question fuel has a significant impact”. “But you’ve got to remember that, broadly speaking, all airlines are buying fuel, so there is a level playing field in that regard,” he said.

The annual general meeting came a day after Qantas released its trading update for the first quarter of the 2018 financial year. The update revealed that the fuel cost in the first half is expected to be $1.55 billion, while the full-year cost is likely to be $3.21bn, compared to $3.04bn in the 2017 financial year.