Qantas eyes deal to buy non-stop, long-haul, hub-buster aircraft

Qantas is “reimagining” long-haul travel, ahead of ordering aircraft to fly non-stop from the east coast to London, New York.

Alan Joyce at the IATA conference in Sydney yesterday. Picture: Hollie Adams

Qantas says it is “reimagining” ultra-long-haul flying ahead of placing an order with either Airbus or Boeing for aircraft that would fly non-stop from Australia’s east coast to London or New York.

Chief executive Alan Joyce said the airline expected to place the order for the aircraft next year and one of the carrier’s executives said “intense” discussions would take place in coming months.

During a briefing on the sidelines of the International Air Transport Association conference in Sydney yesterday, Qantas executives also gave the clearest indication yet that they would change how they referred to Taiwan on their website to comply with an edict from China.

They also suggested a surge in jet fuel prices was putting upward pressure on airfares.

Qantas International chief executive Alison Webster said the carrier was talking to the plane-makers about having an aircraft that had “the technical capability and also importantly the right economics” to allow the non-stop flights by 2022 in what the carrier calls Project Sunrise.

She said there was a “real opportunity for a hub-busting aircraft that goes directly from east coast Australia into those two key cities around the world”.

“We will have intense and detailed discussions over the next few months with both of our suppliers and also the seat manufacturers,” Ms Webster said.

“We’ve recently put out the challenge around premium economy and economy seating in that Sunrise aircraft cabin to see what kind of step change we can create for our customers. We are also looking at flexibility and different zoning uses on those aircraft. In fact, to be honest, all things are on the table right now as we work through the development phase.”

She said this was “about ­reimagining how ultra-long-haul travel will take place”.

Mr Joyce pointed to recent commentary by European aircraft manufacturer Airbus that it was looking at sleeping modules in the cargo hold.

Mr Joyce said there was “a lot of great ideas” being canvassed.

Project Sunrise also involved working with “the regulator on the fatigue management issues around this” and Qantas was also talking to pilots “about an agreement that covers this”.

Meanwhile, Qantas executives gave further detail on how the carrier was dealing with the request by the Civil Aviation Administration of China to refer to Taiwan as part of China.

Mr Joyce said “our intention is to meet the requirements”.

Ms Webster said the carrier was “very grateful” that it had been granted an extension of time.

“We have some complexity to work through. This is not just a Qantas airline, it is a Qantas group piece that needs to be adjusted,” she said. “The IT and technology that underpins our websites and the connectivity takes some time for us to get to grips with changes that need to be put into the programming stages of that.”

The comments were made as global airline chiefs highlighted the impact of rising fuel prices.

Asked about the issue, Mr Joyce said there were “different ways” for airlines to “digest fuel costs”.

“Even though we are seeing airfares increasing in some markets … consumers have never had it better than they have today,” he said.