Sydney-London with Qantas: the world’s longest flight

It’s official. The longest commercial nonstop flight in the world has been cleared for take-off. It will be from Sydney to London with Qantas. QF1 will take 21 hours to cover the 10,978 miles, since it is against the prevailing winds. It will leave Sydney in the evening and arrive in London the next morning. With taxi, take-off and landing, passengers will spend the best part of a day on board. QF2, from London to Sydney, will leave before lunch and arrive in late afternoon on the following day after 20 hours.

Alan Joyce, the Qantas CEO, confirmed the services — and dozens more new nonstop flights to Australia from Europe, the US, Africa and South America — in an exclusive interview with The Sunday Times. The initiative, named Project Sunrise after the double sunrise travellers will see, marks the biggest leap forward for travellers on the Kangaroo route since 1947, when the Australian flag carrier first started flying from London to Sydney — a three-day journey that then required seven stops. “We’re defeating distance,” Joyce says.

Here’s everything you need to know about the new ultra-long-haul services that will begin in 2025.

The plane

Qantas will use the twin-engine Airbus A350-1000 ultra-long-range jet, with an extra fuel tank to carry the thousands of litres of fuel needed. Joyce chose the Airbus jet over the rival Boeing 777-8X because it is lighter, which reduces fuel consumption. It will have four cabins. First class will comprise only six large enclosed suites, each with a seat, a separate bed and a wardrobe. That means an entire family could take the cabin, creating “the best private jet experience in the world”, Joyce says. He describes the 52 seats in business class as “like Emirates’ first class”: a mini suite with a sliding door for privacy. The premium economy cabin, which will have 40 seats with a 40in pitch (the measure of leg room), will be “a step up” from what Qantas currently offers, with more space per passenger and a “cradle seat” to aid sleep. The 140 economy seats will have a 33in seat pitch — disappointingly less than the best economy seats on Emirates, which have 34in.

The passengers

Who will want to spend a day in a carbon-fibre tube slicing through the heavens? Rather a lot of people, it seems. Qantas’s London to Perth “straight shot” began in 2018, the first ultra-long-haul nonstop flight to Australia and the most popular service to the country. That’s despite it costing 20 per cent more than going via Singapore, Hong Kong or Dubai (Qantas partners with Emirates). It is not just the appeal of shaving four hours off the journey time that makes nonstop services attractive. Post Covid, many passengers say they want to avoid changing planes in crowded hub airports, not simply to reduce their chance of picking up a new variant of the virus but also to avoid falling foul of travel restrictions that can change suddenly. “After the pandemic, we’ve seen a big rise in the number of people wanting to fly direct from London to Perth and Rome to Perth,” Joyce says. If the evidence from the London to Perth service is anything to go by, more than half of passengers in business and first class will be leisure travellers.

Alan Joyce, CEO of Qantas

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The routes

As well as London to and from Sydney and Melbourne direct, Qantas’s nonstop flights will soon link Sydney and Melbourne with New York, Paris, Frankfurt, Miami, Chicago, Cape Town and Sao Paulo. The existing ultra-long-haul nonstop services — London to Perth and the new Rome to Perth route that launched in July — will continue, as will Dallas to Sydney.

The experience

The A350 is made of composite — tough plastic — which is denser than aluminium and does not corrode. That means the cabin is quieter and the air pressure is higher than on conventional jets: equivalent to 6,000ft altitude rather than 8,000ft. The air is also less dry and fresher — it’s replaced every two to three minutes. The air temperature cools from 21C to 19C and the lights turn orange to help promote sleep. The cabin warms up again and the lights brighten with a blueish tinge when it’s time to wake up. Put all that together and, Joyce promises, you’ll kip more, your stomach and ankles won’t explode and your face won’t fall off.

An Airbus A350-1000 aircraft will fly the route

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The entertainment

New satellite technology will enable passengers to stream live entertainment directly to their laptops, phones or iPads, Joyce says. Such services are already available over land in many markets, notably the US and Australia, but not always over the sea. “The satellite coverage will be there both across the Indian Ocean and the Pacific, and the wi-fi will be free in all cabins,” Joyce says. First and business class passengers will have enough space to stretch in their suites. Premium economy and economy travellers will be able to use a small exercise and stretching area with yoga mats. “We’ve taken out 12 seats so people can exercise,” Joyce says. There will be “hydration stations” in premium economy and economy. Alcohol consumption will be discouraged in all cabins. (It will be interesting to see how successful this is.)

The fuel

The A350 is 25 per cent more fuel-efficient than the four-engine Boeing 747s that Qantas formerly used on the Kangaroo route. Even though aircraft on the direct flights have to carry more fuel from take-off — and some of that is burnt because of the weight of the fuel needed later in the flight — Joyce claims the services will use 2 per cent less fuel overall than those with a stopover because landing, taxiing and taking off are energy-hungry. Environmentalists and rival carriers, notably Emirates, dispute this figure. Joyce promises that up to 30 per cent of the fuel on the nonstop flights will be sustainable aviation fuel, the highest proportion any carrier will use on any long-haul route. The total amount of carbon emitted during the nonstop flights will be offset with high-quality, independently audited forestry and other green projects in Australia. “We have the largest offset programme of any airline in the world and are trying to create the gold standard in offsets,” Joyce says. Critics argue the offsetting is little more than a gesture — and also question whether the new nonstop flights are consistent with Qantas’s plan to reach net zero emissions by 2050.

It’ll take 21 hours to reach London from Sydney

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The concerns

Modern aircraft are highly reliable and there are few fears about the performance of the Airbus A350. Qantas will, however, be keeping a close eye on how pilots (up to five on each nonstop service) and crew (about 15) will perform. Joyce’s decision to include a large economy class cabin is a commercial gamble. Singapore Airlines scrapped the economy cabin on its 19-hour nonstop flight from its home to New York — it reckoned couples would get divorced in mid-air if they were forced to sit cheek to cheek for that long — so there are only business and premium economy seats on that route. On Qantas’s London-Perth flights, economy is usually full — but that flight is four hours shorter than Sydney-London.

The neighbours

Qantas’s new jets have ultra-long-haul competition from Air New Zealand, which will soon begin nonstop services between Auckland and New York as well as Auckland and Chicago — that will take 17 hours. The Kiwi carrier will give economy and premium-economy travellers the chance to book four-hour stretches in flat beds in its Skynest — a room with six bunk beds at the back of its Boeing 787 Dreamliner. Prices will be released soon but the airline reckons one in ten economy-class passengers will pay for some high-quality shut-eye.

Get a good eye mask for the 20-hour flight

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The ultra-long-haul survival strategy

I’ve flown the longest passenger flight in history: a 20-hour Qantas test flight nonstop from London to Sydney in 2019, plus London to Perth and Singapore to New York. Here’s how to manage. Before setting off, it’s a good idea to begin to nudge your body clock a little towards the time zone you’re heading to — painful but worth it. It’s helpful to exercise more and hydrate more than usual in the days before you leave. Before boarding, take a vitamin C tablet to boost the immune system and dab a few drops of eucalyptus oil up each nostril to ward off bugs. Sleep is essential. Take pyjamas and slippers. For dinner, eat a simple protein and carbohydrate meal — say, chicken with rice — it will help to release hormones that make you drowsy. If melatonin tablets work for you, take a couple with dinner and, perhaps, a couple of ibuprofen. Buy one of those contoured, “no pressure” foam eye masks so you can blink when wearing it — and perhaps put a larger cloth eye mask on top to block out all the light. Hearos ear plugs block out much more noise than the free ear plugs airlines give you. When you wake up, order the spiciest dish you can find on the menu — or add Tabasco from the drinks trolley to your omelette — because spice stimulates the metabolism. After landing, swim, run or walk in the fresh air for as long as you can and stay up until sunset whatever time you land. No cat-napping.

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