Qantas has confirmed London as the first destination for its Project Sunrise flights, with nonstop services from Sydney scheduled to begin in October 2027 after years of development and delays.
The announcement came as Qantas revealed the first Airbus A350-1000ULR painted in the airline’s colors at Airbus’ Toulouse facility. The aircraft is one of 12 examples ordered for Project Sunrise and was shown in near-complete form ahead of delivery.
Another A350-1000ULR, which completed its maiden flight earlier this month, is currently undergoing flight testing and certification before delivery to Qantas.
Project Sunrise was launched in 2017 with the goal of connecting Australia’s east coast directly with Europe and North America. The program has faced multiple delays since then, pushing the planned entry into service into the second half of the decade.
The Sydney-London service will become the first nonstop link between Australia’s largest city and the United Kingdom. Qantas said the flight will cover more than 8,600 nautical miles (16,000 kilometers) and remain airborne for up to 22 hours.
“Today, we’re taking out the last one,” Qantas Chief Executive Vanessa Hudson said, referring to the final stop being removed from the historic Kangaroo Route between Australia and the United Kingdom.
Qantas first operated the route in 1947, when flights between Sydney and London required seven stops and took four days to complete.
The Airbus A350-1000ULR has been developed specifically for the Australian carrier’s ultra-long-haul ambitions. In addition to carrying extra fuel, the aircraft features a much lower seating density than a standard A350-1000 in order to improve passenger comfort on flights lasting nearly a full day.
Each aircraft will accommodate 238 passengers across four cabins. By comparison, a typical A350-1000 operated by airlines such as Cathay Pacific seats more than 330 passengers.
Qantas plans to take delivery of 12 A350-1000ULR aircraft. The fleet will also be used on future nonstop services from Sydney to New York, which the airline has identified as the next Project Sunrise route.
The new flights will operate alongside Qantas’ existing services between Perth and London, as well as its one-stop flights linking Sydney and London via Singapore.
