Qantas still hopeful on Project Sunrise long-haul routes

Qantas is confident its planned flights from the east coast to London and New York won’t be derailed by airspace restrictions.

Qantas CEO Alan Joyce and Captain Lisa Norman discuss research flight plans in Sydney in August last year. Picture: Getty Images

Qantas is confident its planned Project Sunrise flights from Australia’s east coast to London and New York will not be derailed by airspace restrictions.

Questions have arisen about the ultra-long-range routes following the situation in Iran that has forced the airline to redirect its Perth-London flight over ­Afghanistan, adding up to an hour to the 17-hour trip.

Qantas initially feared it would have to bump as many as 90 passengers from the 236-seat 787-9 to make the longer flight without stopping to refuel, but those fears have proved largely unfounded.

A spokesman said most of the flights were carrying between 10 and 30 fewer passengers who were instead placed on services out of Sydney or Brisbane, which included a stop in Singapore.

To date none of the re-routed Perth-London flights have had to make a refuelling stop, with flight times ranging from 17 hours and 41 minutes, to 18 hours and 20 minutes.

Qantas planned to continue the detour indefinitely, in the wake of this month’s “inadvertent” missile strike on a Ukraine International Airlines jet taking off from Tehran.

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Flight tracking site Flight­radar24 showed most airlines were doing the same, following the permanent notice issued by the Federal Aviation Administration prohibiting US carriers from operating in the Tehran flight information region.

With Project Sunrise services still four to five years away, Qantas was confident airspace restrictions would not mean longer routes for Sydney-London flights.

A test flight in November travelled a significantly different route to that of Perth-London services, flying over China and Russia rather than the Middle East.

The spokesman said travelling from the east coast opened more options for the flight path, which would mean greater flexibility for Project Sunrise services in the event of conflicts.

Qantas has settled upon the Airbus A350-1000 as its “preferred aircraft” for the flights, but will not place an order until March, with pilots still a potential deal breaker.

The Australian and International Pilots Association is yet to reach agreement with Qantas to operate the ultra-long-range flights, with a new fatigue risk management system the main issue. AIPA is demanding the Civil Aviation Safety Authority consult with them before signing off on an FRMS that would extend the maximum duty period from 18 hours to 20 hours.

That time frame may have to be stretched even further for Project Sunrise flights, with the three test flights taking between 19 hours and 16 minutes, and 19.5 hours, not including pre-flight preparations.

AIPA technical and safety manager Shane Loney said there would be no deal for Project Sunrise if pilots did not have a robust FRMS. “Pilots are all about safety and we must be consulted on something so important,” Captain Loney said.