Airbus, Boeing close in on Qantas’ ultra-long haul dream
SYDNEY: Both Airbus and Boeing now offer aircraft that appear capable of flying non-stop commercial flights from Sydney to London - the ‘Holy Grail’ for Australian carrier Qantas Airways Ltd.
As long as oil prices don’t go much higher than around US$70 per barrel, the 20-hour flight can be financially viable, and could be on schedules within five years, aviation experts say.
Airbus has increased the range of its A350-900ULR to 9,700 nautical miles (17,960 kms) from the 8,700 nautical miles announced when it sold the plane to Singapore Airlines in 2015 for delivery next year, a spokesman told Reuters.
Includingheadwinds, theSydneyLondon flight is equivalent to 9,600 nautical miles.
“These aircraft, we think, are potentially real goers on these routes,” Qantas CEO Alan Joyce told Reuters of the A350-900ULR and the bigger but less advanced Boeing 777-8.
“You know from what they have done on other aircraft that SydneyLondon and Melbourne-London has real possibility.”
For Qantas, a non-stop SydneyLondon route that cuts three hours off the flight time would allow it to charge a premium and differentiate its product from the around two dozen other airlines plying the so- called Kangaroo route with stop-offs in Singapore, Dubai and Hong Kong.
The route accounts for only 13 per cent of Qantas’ international capacity, but carries the prestige QF1 flight number and is important to its global brand.
Qantas could charge around a 20 per cent price premium for a non- stop Sydney- London flight as it would attract business and premium leisure travellers wanting to complete the trip as fast as possible, said Rico Merkert, a professor specialising in transport at the University of Sydney’s business school.
“It’s something that can be presented as a unique selling point for Qantas,” he said.
Qantas begins non-stop flights from Perth to London next year, using the Boeing 787- 9 Dreamliner.
For this scheduled flight, the Dreamliner will have fewer seats than usual, will use the most advanced flight path modelling methods, and will reduce the weight in areas seemingly as minor as the dishes and forks.
The Perth flight will take 17 hours – a far cry from the four days and seven stops it took when Qantas created the Kangaroo Route to London in 1947.
Qantas can offset the higher cost of carrying more fuel to complete the flight by saving on stopover costs, such as airport charges, ground handling, taxes, crew hotel rooms and lounge usage.
“In terms of economics, much depends on fuel prices,” said Teal Group aerospace analyst Richard Aboulafia.
“If they stay at US$50 a barrel or less, it should be possible to keep costs reasonable. But as fuel goes up, the disadvantages of flying a very heavy plane begin to make ultra-long haul problematic.”
He said the flight should remain economic at prices below around US$70 a barrel, though Leeham Co analyst Bjorn Fehrm said the actual level could be far higher as one-stop rivals would also be squeezed by higher oil prices.
Singapore Airlines ended its New York and Los Angeles flights using the four-engined A340-500 in 2013 when oil prices topped US$107 a barrel. — Reuters