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Qantas’ ambitious Project Sunrise is moving from concept to reality, with the airline’s first custom-built Airbus A350-1000 aircraft now in final assembly and ultra-long haul services between Sydney, London and New York targeted to begin in early 2027. The development positions Australia, New York and London at the heart of a new era in non-stop intercontinental travel, challenging rival hubs and reshaping how premium passengers cross the globe.
Project Sunrise Enters the Home Stretch
Nearly a decade after Qantas first floated the idea of flying non-stop from Australia’s east coast to London and New York, the program known as Project Sunrise is nearing operational readiness. The airline’s first A350-1000ULR has moved through major assembly stages at Airbus’ Toulouse facilities, with delivery scheduled for late 2026, ahead of a planned commercial debut in 2027. The ultra-long-range aircraft is central to Qantas’ strategy to bypass traditional stopover hubs and position Sydney as a true global gateway.
The timeline has slipped more than once, reflecting the technical and industrial complexity involved. Initial service was tentatively slated for 2025, but certification work on a new auxiliary fuel tank and supply chain constraints at Airbus pushed delivery back to the end of 2026. Qantas now expects to use its first A350 on shorter regional sectors for crew training before deploying at least three aircraft on daily non-stop links from Sydney to London and New York.
Despite delays, the airline insists the vision has not changed. The A350-1000ULR has been engineered for up to around 22 hours of continuous flight, enabling routes of more than 16,000 kilometers. For Qantas, that capability represents the final piece of its long-term plan to offer direct connections from Australia’s east coast to the world’s most important financial and cultural capitals.
Sydney, London and New York Form a New Ultra-Long Haul Triangle
When Project Sunrise services launch, Sydney, London and New York will anchor a new ultra-long haul triangle across the globe. Sydney to London non-stop, spanning more than 10,500 miles and expected to take about 22 hours, would overtake today’s longest scheduled flights in both stage length and time in the air. Sydney to New York, also scheduled to launch in 2027, will be of similar duration, creating a direct southern gateway into the United States’ largest metropolitan area.
For Australia, those links have symbolic as well as commercial importance. Non-stop flights to London promise to tighten ties with one of the country’s most significant tourism and business markets, eliminating the long-standing need to connect via Asian or Middle Eastern hubs. Direct service to New York reinforces Qantas’ push into the lucrative North American corporate segment, where time-sensitive travelers are willing to pay a premium to avoid layovers.
London and New York, for their part, stand to consolidate their status as global aviation anchors. While both airports already sit at the center of dense intercontinental networks, non-stop connectivity to Australia’s major east-coast city highlights their importance in a world where travelers increasingly seek point-to-point options over multi-stop itineraries. The result is a tighter, faster three-way link between the Southern Hemisphere and two of the world’s dominant financial centers.
Inside the A350 Built for Twenty-Plus Hour Flights
Underpinning Project Sunrise is a highly customized version of Airbus’ largest twin-engine jet. Qantas has ordered 12 A350-1000ULR aircraft for the project, supplemented by a further batch of standard A350-1000s that will gradually replace its aging A380 fleet. The Sunrise variants incorporate a 20,000-litre auxiliary fuel tank and structural adaptations to support ultra-long sectors without sacrificing performance or safety.
To make such missions viable for passengers as well as pilots, Qantas is sharply limiting capacity. The Sunrise A350s will seat around 238 travelers across four cabins, far fewer than the 300-plus seats many airlines install on the same airframe. The layout includes six fully enclosed first-class suites with separate beds, 52 new-generation business suites, 40 premium economy seats and 140 economy seats, all with enhanced pitch compared with the airline’s existing long-haul fleet.
Fit-out details reflect years of collaboration between Qantas, industrial designer David Caon and medical researchers from the University of Sydney’s Charles Perkins Centre. A dedicated wellness zone, located between premium economy and economy, will offer space to stretch, stand and hydrate away from the cabin seat. Lighting sequences tuned to circadian rhythms, along with curated meal timings and menu compositions, are being designed to minimize jet lag and help passengers transition more smoothly across multiple time zones.
Australia’s Bid to Dominate the Ultra-Long Haul Market
By betting heavily on A350-powered non-stop flights, Qantas is signaling its determination to lead the emerging ultra-long haul segment. Singapore Airlines currently operates the world’s longest commercial routes between Singapore and New York using A350-900ULR aircraft, but those services concentrate on premium cabins and avoid standard economy entirely. Qantas aims for a broader market, retaining an economy cabin while still offering high levels of space and comfort.
The airline’s strategy is to capitalize on geography. Australia’s east coast sits inconveniently far from many major markets, traditionally requiring at least one connection. Project Sunrise flips that disadvantage into an opportunity, positioning Sydney as a long-haul origin point rather than merely an endpoint on round-the-world routings. By providing non-stop access to Europe and North America, Qantas hopes to lock in higher-yield travelers before they even consider other carriers or hubs.
The move also supports a wider fleet renewal across the Qantas Group. Alongside the 24 A350s on order, the airline has large commitments for A321neo and A220 narrowbodies and additional Boeing 787s. Together, these jets will allow Qantas to refresh domestic and regional operations while using the long-range A350s to anchor its highest-profile intercontinental routes. The message to rivals is clear: Australia intends not just to participate in, but to define, the next chapter of ultra-long haul flying.
Implications for New York, London and Competing Hubs
The advent of non-stop Sydney services to both New York and London will ripple well beyond Australia. For gateway airports in the United States and United Kingdom, Qantas’ A350s promise fresh competition for connecting carriers that have long dominated Australia-Europe and Australia-US flows via Asia and the Middle East. Airlines operating through Singapore, Hong Kong, Dubai and Doha will face pressure at the top end of the market as some travelers opt for the simplicity of a direct link.
New York’s position as a transatlantic and transcontinental super hub is likely to strengthen as it becomes a direct node to Australia’s east coast. Corporate travel programs based in Manhattan and other key US business centers will be able to route executives from North America to Sydney and onwards into Asia with fewer connections, a selling point as companies reassess travel budgets and staff wellbeing. If additional Project Sunrise destinations such as Chicago or Miami are eventually added, the United States’ role in the ultra-long haul map will expand further.
London Heathrow, meanwhile, stands to gain another flagship service that underscores its enduring global reach even amid slot constraints and environmental debates. A daily non-stop Sydney flight would join a roster of high-profile long-haul links that already includes ultra-dense transatlantic and Asia-Pacific operations. For British tourism and trade officials, the service offers an opportunity to court high-spend Australian visitors and streamline travel for business delegations and students moving between the two countries.
Passenger Experience: Trading a Stopover for a Longer Single Flight
While the prospect of a 20-hour flight may appear daunting, Qantas is framing Project Sunrise as a quality-of-time proposition. Instead of navigating layovers and multiple security checks, passengers will spend more hours in a single cabin environment that has been specifically engineered around sleep, movement and hydration. The airline has promised that every passenger, including in economy, will have access to fast onboard Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity, along with in-seat power and upgraded entertainment systems.
Cabin ergonomics will be central to making the experience tolerable, particularly in the aft cabin where Qantas still intends to carry a significant number of travelers. Wider aisles, larger overhead bins and subtle design cues are expected to encourage movement throughout the flight, while the wellness zone gives passengers a reason to leave their seat without feeling they are standing in the galley. Enhanced sound insulation and cabin pressurization closer to sea level should further reduce fatigue.
Price will be another differentiator. Qantas anticipates that non-stop fares will command a premium over one-stop alternatives, potentially around 20 percent higher on key routes. The airline is betting that time-sensitive business travelers, premium leisure passengers and those seeking a more controlled travel environment will accept the higher price in exchange for a simpler journey, more predictable schedules and reduced exposure to missed connections or irregular operations.
Environmental and Regulatory Questions Around Ultra-Long Haul
The push toward ever-longer flights is unfolding against a backdrop of intensifying scrutiny of aviation’s environmental impact. Ultra-long haul missions are among the most fuel-intensive per rotation, even if efficient new-generation aircraft like the A350 reduce emissions per passenger-kilometer. That tension places Project Sunrise squarely in the crosshairs of climate advocates and regulators who are debating how to balance connectivity with decarbonization objectives.
Qantas points to investments in sustainable aviation fuel, fleet renewal and carbon reduction programs as partial mitigation. The A350-1000ULR is significantly more efficient than the four-engine aircraft it will gradually replace, and the airline argues that eliminating intermediate takeoffs and landings can improve overall fuel burn for certain city pairs. Nevertheless, the optics of promoting 22-hour flights at a time of heightened climate awareness may prove challenging in markets such as Europe and the United Kingdom.
Regulators will also be closely watching crew duty times, fatigue management and medical readiness on such long sectors. Extensive testing, including a planned record-setting research flight, is intended to validate the operational model and inform inflight protocols around rest breaks, cabin lighting and passenger movement. The findings could set new standards for how airlines approach future ultra-long haul ventures, not only on routes from Australia but around the world.
What Comes Next in the Race for the Longest Routes
With its first A350-1000ULR nearing completion, Qantas is on track to transform the ultra-long haul landscape from 2027 onward. Once Sydney to London and Sydney to New York are established, attention is likely to turn to additional non-stop destinations that could justify the significant investment in range and cabin product. Paris has been floated as a logical candidate, along with other major North American hubs that align with corporate demand and alliance partnerships.
Competitors are unlikely to stand still. Airlines in Asia and the Middle East are studying their own ultra-long haul opportunities, potentially leveraging aircraft like the A350-1000 and Boeing 777X to offer non-stop links that bypass established transit points. For now, however, Qantas enjoys exclusivity on its custom A350-1000ULR variant, giving the Australian flag carrier a head start in defining what ultra-long haul travel looks like for the rest of the decade.
As 2027 approaches, travelers in Australia, the United States and the United Kingdom will watch closely to see whether the promise of non-stop east coast connections lives up to the years of anticipation. If Project Sunrise succeeds, the idea of stopping en route between Sydney, New York and London may quickly start to feel like a relic of a bygone era in global aviation.