Sign in. It’s quick, free and it’s up to you.
An account is an optional way to support the work we do. Find out more.
QANTAS TODAY ANNOUNCED it will launch the world’s longest non-stop commercial flight, with passengers set to spend 19 hours in the air travelling from Sydney to London by the end of 2025.
After five years of planning, the airline said it was ordering 12 Airbus A350-1000 aircraft to operate the ‘Project Sunrise’ flights to cities including London and New York.
Non-stop flights will start from Sydney by the end of 2025, it said, with long-haul trips later planned to include Melbourne.
“New types of aircraft make new things possible,” said Qantas chairman Alan Joyce, according to a statement.
“The A350 and Project Sunrise will make any city just one flight away from Australia,” he said.
“It’s the final frontier and the final fix for the tyranny of distance.”
Qantas operated research flights for the long-haul route in 2019, including a trial London-Sydney trek of 17,800 kilometres (11,030 miles), which took 19 hours and 19 minutes.
A trial New York-Sydney flight in the same year covered 16,200 kilometres (10,200 miles) and took a little over 19 hours.
Singapore Airlines currently operates the world’s longest non-stop commercial flight from Singapore to New York, covering 16,700 kilometres (10,400 miles) in a little under 19 hours.
Qantas already operates a 14,498-kilometre Perth-London trip that takes 17 hours.
‘Maximum comfort’
“As you’d expect, the cabin is being specially designed for maximum comfort for long-haul flying,” Joyce said.
Qantas said the new A350 aircraft would be configured for 238 passengers with first-class suites offering a separate bed, recliner chair and wardrobe.
It promised spacier economy sections and a “wellbeing zone” designed for “movement, stretching and hydration”.
Airbus listed the price of the A350-1000 at US$366.5 million (€348 million) on its 2018 catalogue, the last one it published.
Qantas said it was also ordering 40 A321 XLR and A220 aircraft from Airbus.
In addition, it bought options for another 94 of these planes until the end of 2034.
The A220 models were listed at between US$81 million (€77 million) and US$91.5 million (€87 million) in 2018. The A321 was unveiled after Airbus stopped publishing catalogue prices.
Qantas said the total cost of the deal was a matter of commercial confidence, though it indicated it had obtained a significant discount on the standard price of the aircraft.
“The A320s and A220s will become the backbone of our domestic fleet for the next 20 years, helping to keep this country moving,” Joyce said.
The newer aircraft would reduce emissions by at least 15% if running on fossil fuels, and more if using sustainable aviation fuel, he said.
“We have come through the other side of the pandemic a structurally different company,” the airline boss said.
“Our domestic market share is higher and the demand for direct international flights is even stronger than it was before Covid.”
The A350-1000 planes will be powered by Rolls-Royce Trent XWB-97 turbofan engines, designed to be 25 percent more fuel efficient than the previous generation of aircraft, Qantas said.
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
To think there’s a family out there who’s probably been looking for that poor girl for the last twenty years , it’s very sad .
And what about the disappeared don’t they count?
How do you lose a skull?
The poor girl,how could she ever rest in peace,no family as yet,buried in a place she probably never knew,from her shoulders down in a coffin and her skull probably in a box in a basement somewhere..such a sad story..your right Jane how do you lose a skull..
My parents were involved in the recovery of the body of a man in the early 2000′s (?) in the Shannon Estuary. That man has never been identified. He was given a state burial in Ennis. Another member of the rescue crew entered a competition on Clare FM a short time after to win a headstone. The competition called for people to write their own epitaph. He wrote one for the unidentified man and won. “All you people of Co. Clare, kneel down here and say a prayer, for the man from God knows where”. Very sad to think that there is no name on that headstone.
That made me go cold. What a lovely thing to do for someone and a lovely epitaph.Unclaimed bodies always make me feel so terribly sad, lost souls,some never missed and others never found.
With technology and communication being so advanced it is hard to believe this persons family or friends can not be located ..very sad story ..
Great and sensitive article.
another massive Fail for the Irish State – We are good at failure.
Hardly a fail.sure she cud have come from anywhere
Thats the sad thing about stories like this, maybe no family to miss her! Like the lady who’s body was found in the sea in clontarff I dont think she was even identified never mind been missed! We all take it so much for granted that everyone has family! Cherish yours everyday♡♡
A pretty epic fail really by forensic standards. No dental xrays,no chance of facial reconstrustion. Plus its just bad form to loose a part of someone,how’d you even do that its not exactly a set if keys!
have your say