Kenneth Glad
Airlines and aircraft manufacturers are continuing to push the limits of long-distance flying. A new achievement highlights how commercial aviation is evolving.
Australian flag carrier Qantas is preparing to remove one of the defining features of travel between Australia and Europe: the stopover. The airline wants to replace a journey traditionally divided into separate legs with a single continuous flight connecting two of the world’s most distant major cities.
Its plan depends on a specially modified Airbus capable of carrying passengers for roughly 20 hours while meeting demanding fuel, crew and operational requirements. Such a service would also require careful planning around passenger comfort, scheduling and aircraft performance.
The airline has ordered 12 Airbus A350-1000ULR aircraft for its “Project Sunrise” program. The planes are intended to connect Sydney directly with London and New York without stopping.
Built for range
Each aircraft will seat 238 passengers and carry an additional 20,000 litres of fuel. According to Reuters, the first is scheduled for delivery in April 2027, with daily Sydney-London services planned from October that year.
The proposed flights would last between 19 and 21 hours, depending on winds and routing. They would replace the connections once required on the “Kangaroo Route”, which originally took several days to complete.
Airbus has been examining the modified aircraft’s performance during a test campaign that began in June, Reuters reported.
One flight departed Melbourne and remained airborne for 24 hours and 24 minutes before landing at Airbus’ factory in Toulouse. It covered 23,075 kilometres using a longer route through Canadian airspace.
Attention in flight
The journey also became an online event. Flightradar24 said more than 3.6 million users followed the aircraft, making it the second-most-tracked flight on the platform.
The record belongs to the September 2022 flight carrying Queen Elizabeth II’s coffin from Edinburgh to London.
The Airbus journey also exceeded the distance of a Boeing 777-200LR flight from Hong Kong to London in 2005. That aircraft travelled 21,601.7 kilometres in 22 hours and 42 minutes, reports Reuters.
The endurance flight demonstrated the aircraft’s range, but regular passenger operations will involve further considerations, including certification, crew scheduling, fuel costs and demand for premium nonstop travel.
Sources: Reuters, Flightradar24
