Qantas CEO Alan Joyce has announced the return of one of the airline’s most ambitious plans, direct flights from Sydney to London and New York.
Ask any traveller if they’d be happy to spend almost an entire day on a plane and they’d most likely tell you it sounded like a nightmare.
But Aussies seem to love the ultra-long haul flights, according to recent market research conducted by Qantas.
The national carrier announced Project Sunrise last year, a plan to fly direct between Sydney and New York and Sydney and London.
Qantas currently flies direct to London from Darwin, a 17.5 hour flight and previously flew between Perth and London before the border closures.
Speaking at a press conference yesterday after Qantas revealed its half yearly results, CEO Alan Joyce said Project Sunrise was back on the table, two years after the Covid pandemic put a pause on those plans.
“Work has also resumed on Project Sunrise. Our latest customer research shows the demand for direct long-haul flights is even stronger than it was pre-Covid, so our focus on delivering non-stop services from Sydney and Melbourne to New York and London remains,” he said.
Stream the news you want, when you want with Flash. 25+ news channels in 1 place. New to Flash? Try 14 days free now >
Mr Joyce said it was a “pleasant surprise” that Aussies were so keen on longer flights.
“We can see it in practice in what we’re doing at the moment, but we’ve done a lot of research of our customers and we find that there was a step change to the original business case and people’s desire to fly direct, to where it is now,” he said.
“We don’t think that’s a surprise but we’re probably pleasantly surprised at how much of a step change there was.”
Qantas is working through ordering planes efficient enough to run Project Sunrise, with Mr Joyce saying the airline hoped to start the ultra-long haul flights by 2025.
Qantas is ditching stopover flights where possible.
“When we introduced (flights to) India again – to Delhi – we saw massive demand, because people love to fly direct,” Mr Joyce said.
“With the reinduction of our flights from Darwin to London, we saw massive demand again. It’s our strongest performing service since the relaunch of the international operation in November.”
Perth to Rome will be the next long-haul flight launched by Qantas, in June, and the airline is also speaking with Johannesburg Airport in South Africa about potential flights.
“(Perth to Rome) is a direct service. We think we’ll do very well on that service. And we’d like to start Perth to Johannesburg, and we’re working through with the airport on allowing people to fly direct there,” he said.
Qantas CFO Vanessa Hudson said the airline remained “confident” Aussies would jump at Project Sunrise flights.
“On Project Sunrise, we’re feeling really confident around the demand,” she said.
“We’ve done market research … that shows that demand for this kind of service is increasing across all cabins of the aircraft.
“We’re also seeing that this is supported by what we’re seeing on the Boeing 787, of the direct flights from Darwin to London. And when we return to Perth, we’re really confident that we’ll see that back as well.”
More related stories
Airline banned from UK skies
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is having ripple effects across all of Europe, with the UK making a big move against the country’s biggest airline.
Read more
Qantas unleashes secret weapon to beat Bonza
Competition has never been hotter in Australia’s airline market as a new company prepares to launch and others expand their routes. But “little Aussie battler” Qantas is ready for the fight.
Read more
Qantas boss savages WA’s $60m mistake
The national carrier has revealed its half yearly results, with one aspect of the airline’s recovery plan being more ‘frustrating’ than the rest.
Read more
Discussion about this post