AUSTRALIA’s flag carrier has announced a new date for its 20-hour direct flights.
Qantas Airways now expects “Project Sunrise” to take off in 2026 after huge delays since pandemic.
The innovative initiative will allow Australians to fly from the east coast cities of Sydney and Melbourne to cities such as New York and London.
The airline hopes to use the Airbus A350 for its ambitious non-stop flights.
Qantas already flies directly from Perth to London and Rome, which has proven to be a success.
CEO Vanessa Hudson said News.com.au: “Project Sunrise is an A350 that will have four cabins… first class, business class, premium economy and economy.”
She continued: “It will be able to fly from the east coast, then Sydney and Melbourne, straight to New York and London.”
Hudson explained that the airline’s successful track record on long-haul flights made the extreme 20-hour flights a no-brainer.
British Airways is the only other carrier to fly directly from the UK to Australia.
It is unclear how many flights depart from Australia to New York or London will cost, but direct flights are notoriously exorbitant.
Qantas first announced Project Sunrise on summer 2017, later challenging Boeing and Airbus to manufacture a jet that could perform such long flights.
According to Qantas, Airbus successfully secured the show.
But former CEO Alan Joyce explained that Qantas had to suspend Project Sunrise following the Covid-19 outbreak.
This comes after a new budget airline promising cheap long-haul flights was forced to postpone its launch date by a year.
British startup Global Airlines has said it will provide cheap routes from the UK to the US and recently acquired an Airbus A380, considered the largest and most spacious passenger plane in the world.
Flights were initially expected to take off this summer, but the carrier has now declared that 2025 is its target date. target instead of.
However, the necessary work on the plane has not yet been completed and will delay the airline’s goal until next year.
Global First intends to renovate the aircraft in its style, while also carrying out the essential maintenance necessary for it to serve passengers.
Once in the air, the plane will carry passengers from London to New York and Los Angeles, according to the airline’s launch announcement.
For now, however, the plane will remain in Glasgow, where it is being prepared.
An airline spokesperson said Global Flight: “[Operations] and maintenance schedules, as with any airline, have caused us to reevaluate when we will be operational.
“2025 is the goal and we are working with several partners to achieve it.”
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