Qantas will begin direct Sydney-New York flights in mid-2028, bringing non-stop air travel between Australia and the US east coast for the first time.
The route will be operated by specially configured Airbus A350-1000 ultra-long-range aircraft, fitted with an additional 20,000-litre fuel tank. The planes will be capable of travelling more than 16,000 kilometres for up to 22 hours without stopping.
Qantas said the service would cut about three hours from the typical Sydney-New York journey. Tickets are due to go on sale in August next year.
The announcement was made at a reception in New York, where Qantas chief executive Vanessa Hudson said the route marked the fulfilment of a long-held ambition under the airline’s Project Sunrise programme.
“Conquering the tyranny of distance has been part of who Qantas is from the very beginning,” Ms Hudson said.
“Reaching New York non-stop completes a vision we set out many years ago, and it’s a moment of enormous pride for the thousands of our people who have been working hard to make Project Sunrise a reality.”
Qantas Project Sunrise aircraft
Qantas expects to receive 12 A350-1000 ultra-long-range aircraft, each with 238 seats across four cabins. The planned layout includes six first-class suites, 52 business suites, 40 premium economy seats and 140 economy seats.
The New York service will follow the launch of direct Sydney-London flights in October 2027. Qantas is betting that travellers from the US north-east will pay a premium to reach Sydney without changing planes in Los Angeles or another major hub.
The aircraft will feature lighting and cabin-service systems intended to reduce the effects of jet lag, along with a wellness zone where passengers can move around and stretch during the flight. The first plane is expected to be delivered by April 2027.
The aircraft completed a milestone towards certification in July after making a non-stop flight from Melbourne to Toulouse in France lasting 24 hours and 24 seconds.
Ms Hudson said travel from Australia to the US had recovered, particularly over the previous couple of months, helped by a slightly stronger Australian dollar. She added that Qantas’ New York traffic had “grown almost double since 2023”.
Qantas has indicated that Project Sunrise fares will carry a premium of about 20 per cent over current Sydney-London services, which typically stop in Singapore. It said that could put a return first-class suite to London at up to $41,000, a business-class fare at $26,000 and an economy ticket at about $4,000.
The airline said almost two million passengers had travelled on its non-stop long-haul services between Perth and London, Rome and Paris since 2018. It also operates a direct Melbourne-Dallas Fort Worth service.
