Project Sunrise

June 19, 2026

This week, Qantas Airways announced it will begin its long-awaited London-Sydney nonstops late next year. With an expected time aloft of around 22 hours, this will be, by a wide margin, the longest flight in the world — indeed, the longest scheduled nonstop in history.

This is the culmination of a decades-long quest — of challenges so vast that Qantas even gave its quest a name: Project Sunrise. (Personally I would’ve gone with Project Horizon, but nobody asked.) After a series delays and setbacks, the airline now feels confident enough to give us a launch month: October 2027.

The route will be flown using a fleet of specially modified, ultra-long range (ULR) Airbus A350s, the first of which is undergoing a series of test flights as we speak.

The “Kangaroo route” as it was called as early as the 1930s, once took twelve days and required more than a dozen stops. By the 1960s, with the advent of jets like the 707, two or three stops was the norm. In the 1990s, with the introduction of the Boeing 747-400, a single stop became the standard. Even after all that progress, the idea of a nonstop still seemed a dream, well, too far.

The newest generation of aircraft, including the A350, changed that thinking, and here we are.

A New York-Sydney nonstop, slightly shorter in distance, is planned following launch of the London flights.

Qantas says fares will run about 20 percent higher than those charged for its current one-stops along the same routes, citing a “massive demand” for direct service.

Cabins will feature a premium-heavy configuration of only 238 seats. The lower density layout stands to reason. As I’ve pointed out before, the real challenges of long-haul flying are perhaps no longer technological so much as human. That is, how do you keep passengers comfortable, or even sane, on a journey stretching ten-thousand miles? We’re basically at the limits of what people can endure, at least in economy class.

So, what’s left?

Does the success of Project Sunrise end the range game? Is this aviation’s ultimate triumph over distance? After all, London to Sydney is about as far as it gets, and it’s hard to come up with another pair of cities that couldn’t be connected nonstop.

Looking at the map, however, we do see a last unconquered frontier: Asia to South America. No airline has ever flown a nonstop between these two continents, and the biggest reason is distance.

The mileage between Tokyo and Sao Paulo — arguably the most likely market — is actually longer than London-Sydney. As are routes like Beijing-Sao Paulo and Shanghai-Buenos Aires.

Tokyo-Lima, another potential pairing, is about equal to the mileage between New York and Singapore, which as of 2026 is the longest flight in the world. It’s doable, but not by much.

Could the A350 ULR, or Boeing’s newest 777, close those gaps? Possibly, but technical hurdles are only part of what makes a route viable. You need enough passenger demand, at particular fares, to warrant the expenses of running such a flight. Just because a plane can fly nonstop from Tokyo to Sao Paulo, or from Shanghai to Buenos Aires, doesn’t mean it’s a smart idea.

For now, unless the Chinese become too envious and rush into something, Qantas and Project Sunrise will hold the crown.

Photo by Sam Carter, courtesy of Unsplash.