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Qantas just confirmed what frequent flyers and aviation nerds have been waiting years to hear. The Australian carrier will launch non-stop commercial service from Sydney to London in October 2027, creating the longest passenger flight on the planet.
The route will stretch over 16,000 km, with passengers strapped in for somewhere between 19 and 22 hours depending on conditions.
What Project Sunrise actually looks like
The initiative, branded “Project Sunrise,” has been in development for years. Qantas selected London as the inaugural destination, with New York planned as a follow-up route connecting Australia’s east coast directly to cities that previously required at least one stopover.
The aircraft doing the heavy lifting will be the Airbus A350-1000ULR, a ultra-long-range variant built specifically for routes that most planes simply can’t handle. The first unit has already been named Vega and is scheduled for delivery in April 2027.
Ticket sales are expected to open in February 2027, giving the airline roughly eight months between first delivery and first departure. Daily non-stop services between Sydney and London are planned to begin during the winter season of 2027-2028, according to IATA scheduling data.
All of this remains subject to regulatory approvals, completion of flight trials, and aircraft certification.
The Kangaroo Route gets a 21st century upgrade
Qantas first operated the air route from Australia to Britain nearly 80 years ago. That original connection, known as the Kangaroo Route, became one of the most iconic corridors in commercial aviation, though it always required stops along the way.
Early versions of the route included refueling stops in cities like Singapore, Karachi, and Cairo.
Qantas ran test flights on the Sydney-London route back in 2019 using Boeing 787-9 Dreamliners, carrying limited passengers and crew to study the effects of ultra-long-haul travel on the human body. Those research flights helped shape the cabin configuration and service model that will eventually roll out on the A350-1000ULR.
Singapore Airlines currently operates the world’s longest commercial flight, connecting Singapore to New York. Qantas’s Sydney-London service would surpass that distance.
What this means for investors watching the space
Qantas did experiment with NFTs back in 2022, issuing a limited series as part of a broader trend of airlines exploring digital collectibles. That initiative didn’t lead to any sustained blockchain integration, and the airline has not announced any partnerships or token-based loyalty programs tied to Project Sunrise or its broader operations.
The risk factor worth watching is execution. October 2027 is still more than two years away, and the timeline depends on Airbus delivering the aircraft on schedule, regulators signing off, and trial flights going smoothly. Airbus has faced delivery delays across its product line in recent years, and any slippage on the A350-1000ULR could push the launch window. Investors in both Qantas and the broader aviation supply chain should keep an eye on delivery milestones starting with that April 2027 target for the first aircraft.
Disclosure: This article was edited by Editorial Team. For more information on how we create and review content, see our Editorial Policy.
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