Qantas is moving forward with a jet that can handle first-ever nonstop flights between Sydney and New York or London.
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The A350-1000ULR, to go into testing next year, will be able to fly for up to 22 hours nonstop. The first commercial flights are expected in early 2027, Qantas said in an announcement Friday, Nov. 7.
In addition to cutting up to four hours off the London-Sydney journey, the flights will “transform how people experience ultra-long-haul travel,” Qantas said.
Dozens of seats will be removed from the usual configuration to leave space for a “Wellbeing Zone,” with on-screen exercise programs, stretch handles and a hydration station, the airline said. Qantas is also consulting sleep scientists about lighting design and meal timing to combat jet lag.
Since 2018, there have been 17-hour commercial nonstops between London and Perth, on Australia’s west coast, but making it to the continent’s east coast has been the “final frontier,” Qantas said in an Instagram post Friday.
Going the other direction, multiple carriers have nonstop flights between San Francisco or Los Angeles and Sydney, which take about 15½ hours.
