Qantas nonstop – Qantas says nonstop Sydney–London flights for Heathrow (LHR) will begin in October 2027, with tickets expected to go on sale in February. The airline’s plan also includes nonstop Sydney–New York City shortly after, as it edges closer to its 2017 “Progress Sunr
By the time the aircraft is cleared to leave Sydney for London nonstop, the passengers on board will be crossing a kind of boundary Australians know too well: distance.
Qantas is aiming to make that problem disappear. The airline says it will begin nonstop service to London Heathrow Airport (LHR) from Sydney in October 2027, with the route expected to become the world’s longest commercial flight once it starts. The flights are set to be about 20 hours in duration.
Tickets for the Sydney–London Heathrow route are expected to go on sale in February.
London, though, won’t be the only destination on Qantas’s long-haul checklist. Flights from Sydney to New York City are planned to start “short time after,” Qantas CEO Vanessa Hudson said Wednesday during a ceremony at Airbus’ delivery center in Toulouse, France.
The broader push traces back to Qantas’s “Progress Sunrise” initiative, launched in 2017. Through the program. the carrier challenged jetmakers Airbus and Boeing to build an aircraft capable of flying from Australia’s East Coast to New York City and London with a full load of passengers. No current commercial passenger jet is capable of flying those routes. even though Qantas flew lightly loaded Boeing 787s on “research” flights on both routes in 2019.
In the years since, Airbus has moved to meet Qantas’s challenge. The company developed the A350-100ULR. with “ULR” standing for “ultra long range. ” to support the kind of nonstop service Qantas has been pursuing. Qantas says the first ULR variant of the A350 rolled off Airbus’ assembly line near Toulouse earlier this month. and that it will undergo several months of testing before it can enter into service for Qantas next year.
Qantas has been building anticipation for the launch this week. The airline teased its Project Sunrise service earlier this week. saying it would reveal the first city pairs for the flights. It was widely expected that either New York City or London would land the initial nonstop service out of Sydney. and Qantas confirmed Wednesday that Heathrow will receive the first flights. followed by John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK).
Even as the airline prepares to sell seats for London, it is also looking beyond the first pairings. Qantas has 12 ULR variants on order and says it would eventually use them to add other ultra-long routes from Australia’s East Coast. The carrier also said it has not yet decided which routes might be added.
At Wednesday’s event, Hudson’s message was unambiguous: “The tyranny of distance for Australians has finally been conquered.”
Qantas Sydney London Heathrow New York City John F. Kennedy International Airport Project Sunrise Progress Sunrise Airbus A350-100ULR ultra long range flights 2027 flights aviation news
20 hours nonstop?? People are gonna lose their minds.
So tickets in February for Sydney to London… cool I guess. But I’m skeptical it’ll actually be “nonstop” the whole way, like something always happens.
I thought the whole point was Heathrow (LHR) locked it in, but then it says New York right after?? Isn’t London like literally closer to Sydney than NY, so why do they need a new plane for both? Also 2017 progress sunrise… sounds like marketing.
Nonstop Sydney to London in Oct 2027 and then NYC “short time after”?? This reads like they’re just trying to break a record again. If they can’t fly it now, how are they gonna do it later without a stop for fuel or whatever. And why did they test in 2019 if the plane can’t do it with full passengers yet?