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Next year Qantas will launch the world’s two longest-ever direct commercial flights from Sydney to London (10,573 miles) and Sydney to New York City (10,100 miles).
Both last a mind-blowing 22 hours and are likely to change the way we fly for ever – bringing extremely long-distance journeys without stopovers into the mainstream. They will slice four hours off current journeys that require refuelling stops.
The breakthrough has been made possible after the Aussie carrier selected the Airbus A350-1000ULR (Ultra Long Range) for the route, having ordered a dozen of the specially-designed aircraft in 2022.
This plane, powered by British Rolls-Royce Trent engines, allows for extra distance as it’s fitted with an additional 20,000-litre fuel tank.
The new flights have already been dubbed Project Sunrise by aviation geeks – a name deriving from passengers experiencing two sunrises on one flight.
You take off at night, watching the first sunrise somewhere over Asia or the Middle East.
Then, as you’re chasing the sun westward for nearly a full day, you see it rise again closer to Europe or North America.
The iconic Sydney to London flight number is QF1. In the 1940s, this was originally called the Kangaroo Route, taking four to five days with seven stops.
These were usually Darwin, Singapore, Calcutta, Karachi, Cairo, Tripoli and Rome. The planes used were Lockheed Constellations (a flying experience akin to being stuck in a rattling tin can), with overnight stays arranged in Singapore and Cairo.
Back in those days you had four screaming propellers and an extremely tight cabin. Today, the new Airbus A350 is set to be the most comfortable commercial aircraft.
Cabin altitude will be more like ground altitude. On board there will be 238 passengers in six first-class suites, 52 business suites, 40 premium economy and 140 economy seats. This compares to 300-plus seats in the layouts of other A350-1000 operators. All cabins on the new jets will be fitted with high-speed wi-fi at no extra cost.
For a sneak preview, Qantas invited me to experience a mock-up of the on-board wellness suite.
I was also given a whistlestop tour of where the new planes will be serviced at their flagship Hangar 96 at Sydney’s Qantas Jet Base, Kingsford Smith Airport.
In a ‘wellness zone’ considered to be the first of its kind, passengers on the 22-hour journeys will be encouraged to sample premium self-serve healthy refreshments available throughout the flight – designed to provide optimum hydration at high altitude.
A programme of stretches will also be shown on large monitors for passengers to follow (others will be possible from the comfort of your seat).
Walls in the wellness zone will be fitted with handles to aid exercises. It’s effectively a yoga studio (of sorts) at 35,000ft – or simply somewhere people may wish to socialise.
Designer David Caon, who has worked on the project since 2018, said it had been an ‘honour’ to be involved.
Speaking exclusively to the Daily Mail, the Australian added: ‘We had a team of six people working on it full time for two years – things like aircraft weight, maintainability, safety and comfort all have to be weighed against the aesthetic decisions we make.’
With regards to making sleeping on board as comfortable as possible, Qantas worked in partnership with the University of Sydney’s Charles Perkins Centre to seek ways of reducing the effects of jet lag. These have involved customised lighting reflecting the ‘unique quality of light in the Australian Outback’ and timed meal services designed to match circadian rhythms.
Qantas (the world’s oldest continually operating airline, founded in 1920) already has a number of aviation firsts to its name. The airline lays claim to having invented ‘business class’ (in 1979).
It was also the first airline to operate an all-Boeing 747 fleet. The new Airbus A350-1000ULRs are due to be delivered by the end of this year.
Pilots and crew will fly between Australia and New Zealand with passengers on board on trial flights to get used to the aircraft, with the first ultra long-haul flights taking off at the start of 2027.
Back in 1920 it took weeks to travel by sea from the UK to Australia. A mere century on, it will be possible to fly hundreds of passengers to the other side of the planet in less than a day.
In my opinion – that of an aviation enthusiast (OK, geek) myself – this is the most thrilling launch since Concorde.