FLYING Magazine
Australia’s Qantas said Tuesday it plans to launch direct flights between New York and Sydney in mid-2028, which would mark the first nonstop commercial service between Australia and the Big Apple.
The flights will be handled by Airbus A350-1000ULRs specially configured to fly up to 22 hours nonstop. Qantas said the New York-Sydney route will last about 18 hours, shaving more than three hours off total travel time versus existing one-stop services. The carrier began service to New York in 1958 and operates a daily one-stop service between Sydney and New York via Auckland, New Zealand.
It said tickets for the nonstop route will go on sale in August 2027.
Qantas earlier this year said nonstop service between Sydney and London will begin in October 2027, with tickets going on sale in February, but it gave no hints about a New York launch until this week. Both ultra-long-range routes are part of the carrier’s Project Sunrise, for which it ordered a dozen A350-1000ULRs in 2022. It has estimated three aircraft will be required for nonstop daily service on either Project Sunrise route.
The aircraft will be configured with 238 seats across four cabins, downsizing from the standard A350-1000’s 350 to 410 seats to provide added comfort for the ultra-long-haul service. Qantas said Tuesday that the first test aircraft is nearing completion of its flight test program in France and expected to be delivered in April. The partners had previously targeted first delivery in 2026.
Qantas also said its pilots have begun training on Australia’s first A350 simulator in Sydney. More than 360 pilots and 1,200 cabin crew will be trained to operate the Project Sunrise aircraft.
Qantas Group CEO Vanessa Hudson said announcing the New York-Sydney route’s launch was a “moment of enormous pride” for the carrier, which first challenged Airbus and Boeing to extend the range of their next-generation aircraft in 2017. Boeing had offered its 777-8 as the basis for an extended-range model.
“Conquering the tyranny of distance has been part of who Qantas is from the very beginning,” Hudson said.
The carrier added that demand in and out of New York on Qantas has nearly doubled since 2023.
Qantas’ Ultra-Long-Range Addition
Project Sunrise is named after the long-haul flying boats that the airline flew during World War II. Passengers and crews would see the sun rise twice on 33-hour trips.
Underpinning the effort is the A350-1000ULR, a modified variant of Airbus’ A350 that Qantas has helped develop. It is one of the largest widebodies in production.
The key upgrade is an additional 20,000-liter fuel tank that gives the aircraft a projected range of about 10,000 nm, improving on the standard A350-1000’s range by about 1,000 nm. The A350-900ULR, Airbus’ longest-range aircraft in service, operates nonstop flights between Singapore and New York for Singapore Airlines, the world’s longest such commercial routes spanning about 8,275 nm.
Boeing’s longest-range design in service is the increasingly rare 777-200LR, which flies about 9,400 nm.
The -1000ULR will feature twin Rolls-Royce Trent XWB-97 engines and an intended cruise speed of Mach 0.85. It will also have a new galley air cooling system with lighter refrigeration units that will become standard across the A350 family in the future. Test pilots are evaluating not only the aircraft’s range but its ventilation and temperature control for passenger comfort.
“Flying these distances is only worth doing if our customers arrive feeling their best, and that belief has shaped everything we’ve built,” said Hudson. “Over the past decade, working alongside experts, we’ve designed the aircraft and the onboard experience around the science of ultra long-haul travel, from the lighting to the meals.”
Forty percent of the Qantas -1000ULR’s 238 seats are expected to be premium, including six fully enclosed first-class cabins. Also planned is a “well-being zone” for passengers to stretch their legs and grab a snack.
The first Project Sunrise aircraft began flight testing in June. Airbus said it marked the start of a two-month flight test campaign to certify its range-extending modifications. The manufacturer said a second aircraft, the one it intends to deliver to Qantas in April, was in an “advanced stage of final assembly.”
In July, the first aircraft made history by completing a direct, non-stop, 24-hour and 24-minute flight from Melbourne to Toulouse. The flight spanned 12,460 nm and set new unofficial benchmarks for distance and endurance by a commercial airliner.
Once the testing is complete, the aircraft will be delivered and retrofitted to Qantas’ commercial specifications.