What is Qantas' ambitious Sunrise project for the world's longest flight?

Australia is far, very far, and it is very difficult to connect the country to the big European and American capitals without a stopover. If Qantas, the Australian airline, has just celebrated the anniversary of its Perth-London flight, which lasts 17 hours, it is still not possible to connect its capital, Sydney, to London, Paris or New York without a stopover because of the length of the flight. No aircraft today allows it to make a 19h30 flight, which would be the longest flight in the world.

C’est le point de départ de ce que la cThis is the starting point of what the airline calls “Project Sunrise”.

Qantas’ Project Sunrise

No need to explain why Qantas tries to fly direct to the most distant cities. The absence of connections provides a better customer experience (although…) and makes the airline competitive with its competitors. Who would take a flight with a connection (with a partner airline) or a stopover (staying on the same Qantas aircraft) when a direct flight is available, especially since on such long flights every extra hour counts.

From an economic point of view, this should theoretically cost less or allow Qantas to limit the use of codeshare and connections with its partner airlines, thus retaining the entire ticket revenue instead of sharing it.

By the way, why “Project Sunrise”? Because during such a flight the passenger sees the sun rise twice!

Which destinations for Project Sunrise

Qantas’ ambition is to initially serve London and New York from Melbourne and Sydney.

These are the destinations where the test flights of the Project Sunrise took place because they are the most distant potentially concerned by the project. If this were to become a commercial reality, destinations such as Paris, Frankfurt or Cape Town would potentially be concerned.

The longest flight in the world is not (only) a technical problem

One could believe that the test flights were used to validate the technical feasibility of the thing and it is true. But that’s not the only issue because a flight of more than 19 hours poses many other uncertainties.

– To understand the effects of such a long flight on the body in order to offer customers an adapted cabin and service.

– Organize the working hours and breaks of the personnel according to their state of alertness.

The test flights have therefore involved research teams whose goal is to determine the optimal organization of the flight, the service and the impact on the facilities in order to offer the best possible experience to the customer, the best working conditions for the staff and the best safety conditions for others. Among other things, the pilot’s brain waves, melatonin levels, staff alertness and the need for passenger exercise were observed.

We already know that tests have been made on the lighting, the organization, the time and the order of the meals and that the cabin of the aircraft will have to be thought differently. More places in business, less in economy and why not spaces of rest and leisure which are still to invent.

Which aircraft for the longest flight in the world?

The test flights were operated on Boeing 787-9 aircrafts, but it is already known that the aircraft is not suitable for commercial operation on the routes concerned. It can cover a Sydney-London flight with 40 passengers and a few adjustments but does not have the autonomy for a full flight with full tanks!

Qantas therefore asked Airbus and Boeing to propose solutions.

On the Airbus side, while we were expecting a A350-1000 with additional tanks, a bit like the 321 ULR (Ultra Long Range), it will simply be a “normal” A350-1000 that has been proposed, its adaptation to such distances being due to configuration options but not to the design of the aircraft itself.

On the Boeing side it is the 777-8 that has been proposed.

Qantas’ response: Neither offer was successful. The airline sent the two aircraft manufacturers back to the drawing board, in particular because their prices were too high.

No business model for Project Sunrise

The economic equation is indeed quite complex. The aircraft must be able to carry enough people for the flight to be profitable and to be offered to customers at fares that do not dissuade them. In other words Qantas does not want to take any risk and will wait to have all the elements in hand (thus the characteristics and prices of the aircrafts) to decide to make Project Sunrise a commercial reality.

For Qantas the longest flight in the world is today a study, a project, and if the business model is not found the company will have no problem to say “it was an instructive project but we will not go further”.

In any case, none of the proposed aircraft models will be available before 2023, so the transition from dream to reality is not for tomorrow.

And the pilots in all this?

If the Australian pilots association sees the project with a good eye, the pilots ask however for specific conditions and compensations to operate such long flights. And here we are far from an agreement, the CEO of Qantas, Alan Joyce having even threatened not only to leave the negotiating table but also to abandon purely and simply the Project Sunrise if the pilots were pushing back. One more element to take into account in the complexity of the business model.

Project Sunrise: buzz or revolution?

Qantas’ desire to serve non-stop the most distant destinations is very real but accompanied by a real pragmatism. Everything will be tested and evaluated but if it’s not economically feasible then so be it.

Today, Project Sunrise is a great marketing coup and a very informative research project. And in our opinion, unless Airbus or Boeing makes a radically new offer, there is a 50% chance that it will not go any further.

[Update]

For the record, the longest flight in the world at the time of writing is the Newark-Singapore flight of Singapore Airlines operated by A350-900ULR. It covers the 9,525 miles that separate the two cities in 18h30.

Photo : Boeing 787 Qantas by christopheronglv via Shutterstock