Qantas Airways says it will begin operating the world’s longest nonstop commercial flight next year, connecting London and Sydney on a journey that could last as long as 22 hours.
The Sydney-based carrier on Thursday revealed the first of its specially modified Airbus A350-1000 aircraft, which are scheduled to enter service on the route from October next year. Covering 17,015 kilometers, or 10,573 miles, the flights will link two cities on opposite sides of the globe in an expected travel time of between 19 and 22 hours.
If launched as planned, the service will surpass the current record for the longest regularly scheduled direct flight, held by Singapore Airlines on its route between Singapore and New York. That service spans 15,349 kilometers, or 9,537 miles, and is completed in less than 19 hours.
One key distinction between the two ultra-long-haul offerings is the cabin mix. Singapore Airlines’ Flight SQ24 does not carry economy passengers, while Qantas intends to include them on its London-Sydney service.
A standard Airbus A350-1000 can seat as many as 480 passengers, but Qantas’ customized A350-1000ULR will be configured for just 238 travelers. Of those, 140 seats will be in economy class on the London-to-Sydney flights.
At present, the longest direct flight available to economy passengers is also operated by Qantas, between London and Perth on Australia’s west coast. That route covers 14,499 kilometers, or 9,009 miles, and typically takes between 16 and 18 hours. Sydney, by contrast, lies on Australia’s east coast, adding significantly more distance to the journey.
Sharon Petersen, chief executive officer of AirlineRatings, an Australia-based website that ranks airlines around the world on their products and safety, said Qantas economy seats between London and Sydney would have more leg room than most long haul airlines.
Economy passengers would also have access to a so-called Wellbeing Zone between economy and premium economy cabins where they could stretch their limbs and help themselves to drinks and snacks.
Qantas has said passengers will pay more for direct flights when tickets go on sale in February than they do for flights that make a stop in Singapore. Qantas says the direct flights will save up to four hours of travel time.
Petersen said flying business class direct was a great option for passengers who could potentially sleep for eight hours without the interruption of disembarking at Singapore.
But she would prefer to break up the journey than fly 22 hours in economy.
“The reason for that is 22 hours is really daunting. If you get sat next to someone who’s smelly, is perhaps really unwell and coughing, perhaps there’s a baby sitting next to you that’s having an uncomfortable flight or an oversized passenger who really needs two seats,” Petersen said.
She regards two shorter flights as a safer option in economy.
“If you’ve got it wrong on one flight, you might be okay on the next. You get a break,” she said.
Petersen said the smaller passenger configuration of Qantas’ A350-1000ULR was to enhance comfort and to compensate for an additional tank carrying 20,000 liters (5,283 gallons) of fuel.
Such long haul flights rely on premium passengers to make profits, she said.
“Because the flight is so long, they can’t rely on cargo because of the weight. So it really is a passenger-heavy aircraft and a premium passenger-heavy aircraft at that to get the profit margin,” Petersen said.
Once the Sydney-London direct route was established, Qantas said its next ultralong-haul direct service will be Sydney-New York, a shorter distance of 16,013 kilometers (9,950 miles).
