One of the most exciting projects in commercial aviation was about to be launched by Qantas. Due to the situation Qantas was in, it had to be put on hold for a couple of years. The good news is that this is being worked on again.
Qantas has been working on Project Sunrise for a long time. The world's longest flight is operated by Singapore Airlines, which flies nonstop between Singapore and New York. It can take up to 18 hours to fly that distance.
Qantas has been working on a project called Project Sunrise, which would see nonstop flights from Australia to London and New York. These flights could take up to 20 hours. They would cut travel time in these markets and would be popular with premium travelers.
Qantas challenged both companies to come up with a plane that could complete these missions. In December of last year, Qantas decided to order the A350-1000, as they were able to increase the maximum takeoff weight and add extra fuel tanks.
The plan was for Qantas to confirm the order by March 2020 so that the flights could start in the first half of 2023. Qantas was no longer in a position to invest in this concept because of the Pandemic. That is changing.
Qantas provided an update on Project Sunrise during the half year financial results session.
The potential delivery timelines have been pushed back by two years. It is encouraging to see that Qantas is still working on this, even if the timelines stick this time around.
Project Sunrise is once again on, with the plan for Qantas to order A350-1000s in the middle of 2022, and launch the world's longest flights as of 2025. It would be cool to see these flights become a reality since Qantas plans to use the A350s in a very premium configuration.
Do you think Project Sunrise will stick, or is it all talk for now?
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