Nonstop passenger flights between London and Sydney are set to begin in 2025. The flight is likely to take 19 hours southbound and up to two hours longer northbound, due to the effects of the jet stream. But its success will depend on Russian airspace reopening.<\/p>\n
The shortest path between Heathrow and Australia\u2019s largest city is10,573 miles.<\/p>\n
The London-Sydney flight will be more than 1,000 miles longer than the world\u2019s current longest commercial route, connecting Singapore and New York.<\/p>\n
Qantas has announced an order for up to a dozen Airbus A350-1000 specially adapted jets that will be used for new nonstop links from Sydney to both London and New York. The latter route, measuring 9,940 miles, is mostly across the Pacific and US airspace.<\/p>\n
The Australia airline launched nonstop flights between Heathrow and Perth, covering 9,009 miles, in 2018. They were suspended for two years due to the coronavirus pandemic but resumed in March.<\/p>\n
The original plan was for the ultra long-haul flights to begin in early 2023. But the Covid crisis \u2013 and the accompanying closure of Australia\u2019s borders for almost two years \u2013 set so-called \u201cProject Sunrise\u201d back.<\/p>\n
The new link will depend upon Russian airspace being reopened to western airlines. The most direct route between London and Sydney passes close to Moscow.<\/p>\n
A more southerly route to avoid overflying Russia would add at least 500 miles and one hour to the flying time, which could affect the payload the aircraft could carry and its financial viability.<\/p>\n
Qantas has been planning Project Sunrise for five years. It first flew nonstop from London to Sydney in 1989, and another publicity flight took place in 2019 .<\/p>\n
The airline chose the A350 ahead of the latest Boeing 777X. Airbus will add an additional fuel tank and slightly increase the maximum takeoff weight for the new link.<\/p>\n
The aircraft manufacturer sent a specially decorated A350 to Sydney for the launch, emblazoned \u201cOur Spirit flies further\u201d and \u201c#LongRangeLeader\u201d.<\/p>\n
The Qantas chief executive, Alan Joyce, believes that demand for a nonstop UK-Australia link will be higher than ever due to concerns about intermediate stops in the coronavirus era.<\/p>\n
Nonstop flights this year between London and Perth are proving extremely popular because they avoid other nations\u2019 travel restrictions.<\/p>\n
Mr Joyce said: \u201cFor more than 100 years, Qantas has been at the forefront of transforming the way the world travels, particularly through direct flights. <\/p>\n
\u201cNow, the A350 and Project Sunrise will make almost any city in the world just one flight away from Australia. It\u2019s the last frontier and the final fix for the tyranny of distance that has traditionally challenged travel to Australia.\u201d<\/p>\n
He said that while the first flights would link Sydney with London and New York, direct connections to destinations such as Paris and Frankfurt would be possible in the future.<\/p>\n
The aircraft will be fitted with 238 seats, which Qantas said was the lowest compared with any other A350-1000 currently in service, and more than 40 per cent of the cabin will be dedicated to premium seating. There will also be a \u2018Wellbeing Zone\u2019 on board. <\/p>\n
More than 40 per cent of the cabin will be dedicated to premium seating, and there will be a \u2018Wellbeing Zone\u2019<\/p>\n
(Qantas)<\/p>\n
Sean Moulton, the airline schedule analyst, said: \u201cCovid makes ultra long-haul routes more attractive, omitting a stop in case border rules change.<\/p>\n
\u201cQantas could grow on its very successful Perth-London route by adding nonstop flights to Sydney and Melbourne.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhilst these maybe attractive to those in first and business classes, will those in economy be ready to face the slog?\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Nonstop passenger flights between London and Sydney are set to begin in 2025. The flight is likely to take 19 hours southbound and up to two hours longer northbound, due to the effects of the jet stream. But its success will depend on Russian airspace reopening. The shortest path between Heathrow and Australia\u2019s largest city […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-788","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry"],"yoast_head":"\n