Qantas ultra long-haul flights from Sydney are scheduled to start in early 2027.
London and New York are targeted as the first cities to be served by the non-stop Project Sunrise flights, expected to take up to 19 hours.
The services will be scheduled after the airline receives the first of 12 dedicated Airbus A350-1000 aircraft at the end of next year, chief executive Vanessa Hudson said on Tuesday.
Qantas will have to carry out local certification flights and further trials to make sure crew become familiar with the aircraft, Hudson said.
The 238-passenger A350 in a four class configuration will then be scheduled to operate the first Project Sunrise flights from Sydney to London and New York, first projected in 2017. Qantas began direct flights between Perth and London in 2018.
The carrier had previously indicated that it expected the first ultra long range A350-1000 to enter the final assembly stage in September, followed by flight testing ahead of its delivery in the second half of 2026.
The first aircraft will be “entering the production cycle in September this year,” and was on track to be delivered by the end of 2026, Hudson confirmed.
This would pave the way for certification and training flights before entering commercial service in “very early 2027.”
“We will need three aircraft to be able to have a daily service, either from Sydney to New York or Sydney to London. Then as the other aircraft come on, we’ll be able to fill out the network,” Hudson said, without identifying other routes.
She was speaking to the media while attending an Airbus summit in Toulouse.
