Overview
- Qantas confirmed on Sunday that it will launch nonstop flights from Sydney to London in October 2027, making it the carrier’s flagship step in its long‑running Project Sunrise programme.
- The service will use the Airbus A350‑1000ULR, the first of which has been named Vega and is scheduled for delivery in April 2027, and the jet’s extra range comes from an integrated rear centre fuel tank of about 20,000 litres.
- Qantas expects tickets to go on sale in February 2027 and plans daily services in the 2027–28 winter season while sizing the cabins for a low‑density, premium product and continuing passenger wellbeing trials.
- The launch timetable depends on ongoing ULR flight tests, regulatory certification, crew training and on‑time Airbus deliveries, any of which could delay the October start and raise project costs amid higher fuel and supply‑chain pressure.
- If it proceeds as planned, the Sydney–London flight would exceed the current longest commercial route and builds on Qantas’s 2019 research flights and years of planning; the next milestones to watch are Airbus’s certification progress, the April 2027 delivery, and ticket‑sales opening in February 2027.