Qantas has announced plans to launch the world’s longest non-stop commercial flight, with passengers set to spend 19 hours from Sydney to London by the end of 2025.
To operate the project dubbed “Project Sunrise”, the airline says it is ordering 12 Airbus A350-1000 aircraft for flights to cities including London and New York.
Non-stop flights will start from Sydney by the end of 2025, with long-haul trips later planned to include Melbourne.
Qantas operated research flights for the long-haul route in 2019, including a trial London-Sydney trek of 17,800 kilometres (11,030 miles), which took 19 hours and 19 minutes.
A trial New York-Sydney flight in the same year covered 16,200 kilometres (10,200 miles) and took a little over 19 hours.
Singapore Airlines currently operates the world’s longest non-stop commercial flight from Singapore to New York, covering 16,700 kilometres (10,400 miles) in a little under 19 hours.
Qantas already operates a 14,498-kilometre Perth-London trip that takes 17 hours.
Qantas Airways Limited is Australia’s flag carrier and is the largest airline by fleet size, international flights, and international destinations. It is the third oldest airline in the world, after KLM and Avianca. It does not expect to fly internationally until late in 2021 – except for a potential travel bubble with New Zealand.
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