Qantas wants new jets for ultra-long haul routes

Qantas is pushing plane makers Airbus and Boeing for ultra-long haul jets as it seeks to connect Australia to key finance centres such as London and New York with non-stop flights by 2022.

The Australian airline, which is weighing an order between the long-range version of the Airbus A350 and the Boeing 777X, will put out a request for proposals once it is comfortable with the technical evaluation of the aircraft, Qantas chief executive Alan Joyce told reporters in Sydney on Sunday.

“We’re having good dialogue with Boeing and Airbus. We think we’ll get to the stage where, technically, we’ll know where the aircraft is going to be in the next few months,” Mr Joyce said on the sidelines of the International Air Transport Association’s annual meeting.

The plan is part of Qantas’s Project Sunrise that aims to fly the Sydney-London route nonstop. This year, Qantas began its Perth-London service, a 17hour flight, using Boeing 787 Dreamliners.

Demand for ultra-long haul flights is pushing aircraft and engine manufacturers to produce planes that can transport passengers for up to 20 hours without a break. Last month, Singapore Airlines said it will restart in October its Singapore-New York service, a 19-hour flight, making it the world’s longest.

Qantas will start the request for proposals “this year and into next year” and if the business case works out it will place an order in 2019 for the first delivery to arrive in 2022, he said.

“Boeing and Airbus are keeping slots for us, so it’s feasible at this stage,” Mr Joyce said.

“We still have to go through a few hurdles.”

Qantas is “getting very confident” about ultra-long haul flights following the success of its Perth-London route, Mr Joyce said.