Direct flights to anywhere in the world will be possible under Project Sunrise

When Project Sunrise begins, the A350 will bring 238 passengers in four classes: first of all, business, premium economy and economics. In a sign of moving consumer demand, over 40 % of the cabin will be dedicated to premium seats. A cabinet more scarcely configured – to host the expanded premium areas – will lighten the weight of the plane, allowing them to fly more efficiently longer.

“We are listening to our customers a greater desire to go out,” Hudson said at the Factory Airbus in Hamburg. “And doing it in a prize and a comfortable place is also something that customers say they appreciate and are ready to pay a premium.”

The prize could be 20 % more than the long -range flights of existing Qantas, he said. The Premium experience is provided with features designed to attract more paid customers.

The first class A350S cabins will have a “fully customizable lighting sequence” so that “customers can Choose the time zone they want To be lit for the duration of the flight ”-actually having their jet. The Airbus will have a more spacious layout with wider cabins and larger windows, all designed with the experience of a flight of over 20 hours in mind.

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The Sunrise project in Qantas takes its name from the so -called “Double Sunrise” flights On the other side of the Indian Ocean by the Qantas pilots during the Second World War. They remained in flight for long enough to see two dawn while crossing the Indian ocean.

Hudson told the journalists of Hamburg that the first A350 should arrive with Qantas in 2026. The fleet, scheduled to grow up to 12, will need at least three planes before the Sydney service in London or Sydney in New York can start. Once delivered to Qantas, planes will need certification from home before they can trade commercially. And even then, Qantas will adopt a gradual approach to their launch.

“Since this plane will fly so long distance, we will make a lot of training with our pilots and our cabin crew,” said Hudson. “To do this, we will have that first plane, probably fly to the Tasman in New Zealand, where he gives us some time to stretch his legs, but not too far away.”

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Hudson said that Project Sunrise will actually begin in the first half of 2027 when Qantas gets the three planes and “then build from there”. The delays in production extended the time sequence for the delivery of the A350 before. In 2022, Qantas said that the ULR A350-1000 would be on duty in 2025. The post-posture effects of the pandemic interruptions on the industry, as well as the design changes required by the regulators added to the delay.

Professor Rico Merkert of the University of Sydney, who studies chains of supplies and transport, said that it would not be a “beautiful appearance” for Qantas if they should further push the time sequence for the delivery of the A350.

For Airbus, it is less problematic, he said, because at the moment “every airline on the planet is trying to get new planes” to save money on operating costs and lower emissions. The easiest way to do both was to renew the fleets, he said.

The initial flights through the Tasman “make sense”, said Merkert, because “security is of fundamental importance” with the new technological bases of the plane. “Safety is also part of the Qantas brand.”

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For Qantas, the addition of the A350 should have had a waterfall effect on the international fleet of Qantas, freeing other planes to fly “Punta Punta” in the United States, said Hudson, a capacity similar to the Irbus 321XLRS with a narrow body Enter the Qantas service in Juneeven if with a much longer radius.

In the end, Project Sunrise flights could connect Perth and London or Melbourne and Dallas, “potentially” Sydney and Dallas, said Hudson.

This will help to free Boeing 787, which can therefore fly to other markets.

“Chicago would be fantastic. Seattle would be fantastic, seasonally in Las Vegas … it would be incredible,” Hudson reflected. “Everywhere from Perth at other points, they would also be considered in Europe.

“When we arrive at that point, we will evaluate all those, those ports and concentrate the plane on what we think will generate the best result for customers and our business.”

Rob Marcolina, Chief Financial Officer of Qantas, said that the evolution of technology underlying the new A350 allowed Qantas to reverse what had long been the geographical burden of the distance of Australia.

The A380 exerted pressure on Qantas in the early 2010 years, when airlines such as Singapore, Qatar and Etihad began to use medium -sized destinations in the Middle East and Singapore to put more place in Australia.

“With the dawn, we can fly over them,” said Marcolina. “So our geographical disadvantage is actually our advantage in the sense that these planes have the ability to fly anywhere in the world.”

Not only Sunrise Bank on the Australian question of premium and super-long flights, but has created the opportunity to attract North American customers on a direct flight to Australia that would be “enormous”, he said.

The unique positioning of Sunrise flights will demonstrate the role of Qantas as a national carrier “on a global scale”.

“Technology is allowing us to do it,” he said.

Chris Zappone traveled to Hamburg as a guest of Airbus and Qantas.

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