Project Sunrise: All you need to know about the London-Sydney nonstop flight

Qantas plans to launch a nonstop service between London Heathrow and Sydney in the first half of 2027. It will be by far the longest passenger flight in the world. But what challenges does the Australian airline face? Will people really want to step on board for a gruelling journey of up to 20 hours? And what is the environment effect? These are the key questions and answers.

The Australian carrier already flies nonstop between London and Perth, a direct distance of 9,009 miles. The route was launched in March 2018 and, with the exception of the Covid pandemic, has proved extremely popular. But the east coast of Australia is far more of a challenge. The direct distance is one-sixth further, beyond the range of any currently available passenger aircraft when fully loaded.

While Qantas test flights with a small number of passengers have made the London-Sydney trip nonstop (as early as 1989), the trick is to find an aircraft that can successfully operate full between the two cities.

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The airline has ordered a dozen specially configured Airbus A350-1000 aircraft, fitted with an additional 20,000 litre fuel tank, enabling them to fly for 22 hours without refuelling.

The aircraft will also offer only 238 seats, less than half the possible maximum – offering a combination of more space and less weight.

Four classes, in fact, comprising:

For the cheap seats, there is enhanced legroom (33-inch seat pitch, one inch longer than on the existing Qantas London-Singapore-Sydney link).

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The Qantas CEO, Vanessa Hudson, predicted last year that fares will be around 20 per cent higher than existing flights between London and Sydney, which refuel along the way. But I think it will turn out to be much more. The existing premium on the Qantas nonstop from London to Perth is as high as 90 per cent compared with a high-quality one-stop, specifically Cathay Pacific from Heathrow via Hong Kong. A more usual premium is 50 per cent.

I forecast it could be consistently higher than 50 per cent, because of the huge London-Sydney market and limited supply. At times when Singapore Airlines is charging £1,000 return, I would expect Qantas nonstop fares to be in the range £1,600-£2,000.

Lauren McLeod, senior procurement manager for Australasia for the travel giant, predicts that demand will be strong: “It should work really well as well for the Rugby World Cup, which is going to be a couple of months later in 2027.

“If you've just got two weeks to make the most of your time there, it should be really popular.

“I always go for the direct option personally. I like to maximise my time in the destination.”

Over Christmas and New Year, an economy fare of £3,000 or £4,000 return would not surprise me.

Because Qantas is offering a unique product – no other airline has shown any interest in competing – and because the costs are astronomical.

Four pilots will be assigned to the operation, along with perhaps 15 cabin crew – all of whom will need spells of rest.

The biggest cost, though, is fuel – because much of the expensive kerosene will be burnt simply to carry fuel for later in the flight.

Far from it. The most efficient/least damaging way to fly between London and Sydney is with two intermediate stops, breaking the journey into three sectors of 3,500-4,000 miles. Despite the increased fuel burn during take-off, it is much more efficient.

Not at all. The direct route from London involves crossing from Latvia into Russian airspace, with about four hours spent over the territory of the world’s largest country before exiting via Kazakhstan. Qantas, like other western airlines, is banned from Russian airspace.

Ms Hudson says: “Geopolitics is a part of any operational consideration, but these aircraft won't need to fly over Russia to be able to make the distance.”

Pilots are examining many months of wind data to run flight-planning simulations. "At some times of the year, the fastest way to get from Sydney to London will be over Japan and over the North Pole and down the other side because of the the wind direction,” the Qantas boss says.

Melbourne is the obvious next target for an Australian nonstop from Heathrow – it is marginally closer than Sydney (70 miles for a direct routing) and will incur less of a “Russia penalty” being further south. Brisbane is actually a better bet than either, being 300 miles closer than Sydney, but has a much smaller market.

Hear more: The Independent’s travel podcast on Australia