Qantas delays ultra-long-haul Project Sunrise flights once again

26 de marzo de 2025 - 16:08

Qantas remains on track with its Project Sunrise to operate direct flights to New York and London. Photo: Airbus

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During the Airbus Summit held this Monday and Tuesday in Toulouse, it was revealed that production of the first of twelve Airbus A350-1000ULRs for Qantas will begin in September 2025.

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Delivery is expected by late 2026, with the aircraft scheduled to enter service in early 2027. With this new generation of aircraft, the Australian airline is bringing Project Sunrise to life—an initiative that will enable nonstop flights from Australia’s east coast to destinations like London and New York.

The new Airbus A350-1000s will initially operate short-haul routes to New Zealand for crew training and familiarization, according to Executive Traveler. There is also a possibility that these aircraft will be deployed on existing ultra-long-haul routes such as Perth–London, Auckland–New York, or Melbourne–Dallas.

The first twelve Airbus A350-1000s will be dedicated to Project Sunrise and will feature a 238-seat configuration across four classes—the least dense layout on the market: six First Class suites, 52 Business Class seats with sliding doors, 40 next-generation Premium Economy seats, and 140 Economy seats, including rows with extra legroom. An additional twelve A350s will be configured in a denser three-class layout to replace older aircraft in the fleet.