Nearly 80 years after Australian airline Qantas began operating the air route from Australia to Britain, it is moving closer to its most ambitious attempt yet, a direct commercial flight from Sydney to London without a layover.
The Australian airline announced this week that it had chosen London as the first destination for “Project Sunrise,” an initiative designed to connect Australia’s east coast directly with extremely distant cities, first London and later New York.
Ticket sales are expected to begin in February 2027, and the first departures are planned for October that year, subject to regulatory approvals, completion of flight trials, and aircraft certification.
The flight, expected to last 19 to 21 hours depending on winds and route, would set a new benchmark for long-haul travel and aim to turn one of the world’s most grueling journeys into a single continuous route.
The move has occupied the aviation world for almost a decade. In 2017, Qantas challenged aircraft manufacturers Airbus and Boeing to develop a plane that could fly nonstop from Sydney and Melbourne to London and New York, with a real commercial payload rather than an almost empty demonstration flight. In the end, Airbus was chosen, receiving an order from Qantas for 12 Airbus A350-1000ULR aircraft, a dedicated ultra-long-range version.
Aircraft has more capabilities than standard Airbus A350
The aircraft is not just a standard Airbus A350. It has undergone significant structural changes, most notably the addition of a rear-center fuel tank holding 20,000 liters. That addition extends the aircraft’s range by about 1,000 nautical miles and allows it to fly more than 16,000 kilometers, for up to 22 hours straight. The plane is powered by two Rolls-Royce Trent XWB-97 engines and requires a higher maximum takeoff weight and a more complex fuel management system that must transfer fuel between tanks safely over many hours and under changing flight conditions.
The preparations go beyond the aircraft itself. In June 2026, the project’s first test plane, bearing production number MSN707, made its maiden flight in Toulouse, France. The flight lasted 3 hours and 43 minutes, reached an altitude of just over 41,000 feet, and launched a two-month testing and certification campaign.
During the campaign, the new fuel systems, pumps, sensors, pressures, temperatures, a new cooling system for the aircraft galley, cabin ventilation, and the aircraft’s ability to maintain comfortable conditions even on an exceptionally long flight are being tested.
One of the more interesting engineering challenges is that the test aircraft is not a prototype that will remain in the company’s labs, but rather a production plane ultimately meant to carry passengers.
As a result, thousands of sensors and measuring systems were installed in it in a way designed not to harm the future passenger cabin. Airbus also placed devices in the cabin that simulate passenger body heat to test how a full cabin would behave on such a long flight, and what would be needed to maintain temperature, ventilation, and comfort for nearly a day in the air.
Cabin layout different from standard flights
The cabin layout is also different from regular flights. Qantas will operate the aircraft in a configuration with just 238 seats, an unusually low seat count for this model. The layout includes 6 first-class suites, 52 business-class seats, 40 premium economy seats, and 140 economy seats, including economy plus.
More than 40% of the seats will be allocated to premium cabins, a sign of the company’s commercial strategy: to sell not only a flight, but time saved and a more tolerable travel experience on an extraordinarily long journey.
A “wellbeing area” for passengers will also be set up in the middle of the aircraft, between premium economy and economy. The area will include stretch handles, a screen with movement exercises, and a drink-and-snacks station.
Qantas also plans dedicated lighting based on waking and sleeping cycles, with different light scenes designed to help the body adjust to the destination’s time zone. Meals, sleep times, lighting, and cabin activity are all supposed to fit into a single schedule aimed at reducing jet lag and fatigue after landing.
The scientific foundation for the project has been built over the years. Qantas has worked with researchers at the University of Sydney to examine the effects of meal timing, hydration, exercise, light exposure, and sleep on passengers and crew.
In 2019, the company already operated direct research flights from New York to Sydney and from London to Sydney, using Boeing 787-9 aircraft with a limited number of passengers and crew. Those flights collected data on alertness, movement, sleep, and passenger experience in order to build a safer and more comfortable operating model for ultra-long-haul flights.
Qantas’ history with long routes began long before the jet age. In 1947, the company began operating the “Kangaroo Route” from Sydney to London, a journey that then took four days and included seven stops, among them Darwin, Singapore, Calcutta, Karachi, Cairo, and Rome. Since then, every new generation of aircraft has removed one more stopover. Project Sunrise is meant to eliminate the last one.
The project’s name is no accident. It refers to Qantas’ “double sunrise” flights during World War II, when the company operated Catalina seaplanes from Western Australia to Ceylon, now Sri Lanka, to maintain an air link to Britain after the fall of Singapore. The flights sometimes carried only three passengers and a small amount of mail, lasted more than 30 hours, and passengers saw the sun rise twice during the journey. In terms of time spent in the air, they are still considered among the longest commercial flights in history.
In the modern era, the active record belongs to Singapore Airlines on the New York JFK-Singapore route, a distance of about 15,349 kilometers, flown on an Airbus A350-900ULR, with an average duration of more than 18 hours.
Next is the Newark-Singapore route, also operated by Singapore Airlines, at about 15,344 kilometers. Other notable long routes today include Auckland to Doha on Qatar Airways, Perth to London on Qantas, Melbourne to Dallas on Qantas, Perth to Paris, New York to Auckland, Auckland to Dubai, Los Angeles to Singapore, and San Francisco to Bengaluru.
Qantas already has commercial experience on an exceptionally long route: Perth to London, which began operating in 2018 and is considered one of the world’s longest nonstop flights. But Sydney to London is different.
The distance is greater, the flight paths are more complex, and operations depend on tailwinds, the seasons, airspace conditions, and fuel availability. According to the company, polar routes will be used in some cases, especially during the Northern Hemisphere winter.
The project’s economic model is no less challenging than the engineering. Qantas will need to persuade passengers to pay more for nonstop flights. The company believes business travelers and premium passengers will be willing to pay a premium for time savings, the elimination of a stopover, and reduced risk of delays, missed connecting flights, or a prolonged stay at an intermediate airport.
On existing routes such as Perth to London, Qantas has already succeeded in charging more for flights with a stop, and it hopes to replicate that model here as well.
On the other hand, a 20-hour flight is still a tough test for passengers and crews. Even with smart lighting, improved seats, a timed menu, and a stretching area, the human body was not designed for nearly a full day of sitting in an aircraft cabin. The operation will require meticulous crew scheduling, rest areas for pilots and flight attendants, fatigue monitoring, medical management for at-risk passengers, and preparation for medical emergencies far from suitable airports.
The project also depends on regulatory approvals and global operational stability. Disruptions in airspace, wars, extreme weather, or insurance restrictions could alter routes and reduce time savings.
Qantas has already had to change routes on existing flights because of tensions in the Middle East, and the company will need to maintain a high degree of flexibility in the new project as well.
If the Sydney-to-London flight launches as planned, it will be more than just another airline route. It will mark a new stage in competition between airlines, between transit flights through hubs in the Gulf and Asia, and direct point-to-point connections. For years, airlines such as Emirates, Qatar Airways, and Singapore Airlines turned stopovers into a successful global model. Qantas is now trying to bring some passengers back to a different model, fewer airports, less waiting, fewer aircraft changes, and more consecutive hours in the air.
The success of Project Sunrise could also open additional routes. After London, New York is planned, and later, there could be additional destinations in North America, Europe, Africa, and South America, depending on demand and the number of aircraft delivered.
In a world where aircraft are becoming more fuel-efficient, engines stronger, and passenger cabins designed around the human body rather than only around seat count, the world’s longest flight could become a regular commercial service rather than a technological showcase.
