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Qantas has announced that it will launch the world’s first non-stop flights between Sydney Kingsford Smith Airport (SYD) and London Heathrow Airport (LHR) in October 2027. This brings its long-awaited Project Sunrise initiative to life for an arduous 22-hour flight.
The announcement coincides with the unveiling of Qantas’ first Airbus A350-1000ULR at the manufacturing facility in Toulouse, France. The specially designed ultra-long-range aircraft will enable Qantas to operate flights of more than 9,940 miles (with journey times of up to 22 hours nonstop).
For the first time, travelers will be able to fly directly between Australia’s east coast and the United Kingdom without an intermediate stop. This cuts up to four hours from current one-stop itineraries.
The launch represents a remarkable evolution of the famed Kangaroo Route. When Qantas first began flying between Sydney Kingsford Smith Airport (SYD) and London Heathrow Airport (LHR) in 1947, the journey took four days and required seven stops, including Darwin, Singapore, Calcutta, Karachi, Cairo, Castel Benito, and Rome.
The new non-stop service will operate alongside the airline’s existing routes between Perth Airport (PER) and London Heathrow Airport (LHR) as well as Sydney Kingsford Smith Airport (SYD) and London Heathrow Airport (LHR) via Singapore Changi Airport (SIN). Tickets for the inaugural Project Sunrise flights are expected to go on sale in February 2027.
The Airbus A350-1000ULR was developed specifically for Project Sunrise and features an additional 20,000-liter fuel tank to support the extraordinary range required for nonstop flights between Australia and Europe. Qantas has ordered 12 of the aircraft, each configured with 238 seats across four cabins. This includes 6 First Class, 52 Business Class, 40 Premium Economy, and 140 Economy Class seats. The airline says the lower seat count compared to traditional long-haul aircraft is designed to maximize passenger comfort on flights lasting nearly a full day. A second aircraft is already progressing through an eight-week testing and certification program after completing its maiden flight earlier this month.
New research commissioned by Qantas suggests consumer interest in nonstop ultra-long-haul travel continues to grow. According to the airline, 70% of Australians surveyed indicated they would consider booking a nonstop flight between Sydney Kingsford Smith Airport (SYD) and London Heathrow Airport (LHR), up from 58% earlier this year. Among premium travelers, interest has risen to 80%.
Qantas points to the success of its existing ultra-long-haul routes as evidence that passengers value avoiding intermediate stops. Since 2018, more than 1.7 million travelers have flown on the airline’s nonstop services between Perth Airport (PER) and London Heathrow Airport (LHR), Rome Fiumicino Leonardo da Vinci International Airport (FCO), Paris Charles de Gaulle International Airport (CDG) as well as Melbourne Airport (MEL) and Dallas Fort Worth International Airport (DFW), and Auckland Airport (AKL) and New York John F Kennedy International Airport (JFK). The airline says these routes consistently achieve some of the highest customer satisfaction scores across its international network.
Qantas has already begun extensive training programs ahead of the fleet’s arrival. Pilots are training on Australia’s first Airbus A350 simulator in Sydney and through partnerships with British Airways in the United Kingdom and Cathay Pacific in Hong Kong. The initial group of Project Sunrise pilots is being drawn from the airline’s Airbus A330 fleet, with 40 pilots already undergoing training. By the time all 12 aircraft have been delivered, Qantas expects to have trained more than 360 pilots and 1,200 cabin crew members to operate the fleet. The airline’s engineering teams have also begun specialized training to support the new aircraft type.
While Sydney Kingsford Smith Airport (SYD) to/from London Heathrow Airport (LHR) will be the first Project Sunrise route, it will not be the last. Qantas has already confirmed that nonstop flights between Sydney Kingsford Smith Airport (SYD) and New York John F Kennedy International Airport (JFK) will be the next destination added to the network. The airline plans to announce the launch timeline for the New York service next year.
Anthony’s Take: With Project Sunrise finally nearing reality, Qantas is preparing to redefine long-haul travel and establish a new benchmark for nonstop international flying, connecting Australia with some of the world’s most important cities in a single flight.
(Image Credits: Qantas.)
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Advertiser & Editorial Disclosure: The Bulkhead Seat earns an affiliate commission for anyone approved through the links above This compensation may impact how and where links appear on this site. We work to provide the best publicly available offers to our readers. We frequently update them, but this site does not include all available offers. Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed, or approved by any of these entities.
