News for the airliner spotting community today from QANTAS’s head office, was that the airline had selected an aircraft for Project Sunrise. This is part of the airline’s plan to launch new nonstop flights from Sydney to New York and London that would be the amongst the longest flights in the world.
The airline said in its press release that it was announcing several important developments for Project Sunrise ahead of a final go or no-go decision, which will now take place in March 2020. QANTAS’s Press release has been reproduced below, along with ASO details of the current A350 operators in Australia.
AIRCRAFT SELECTION
After an extremely detailed evaluation of the Boeing 777X and Airbus A350, Qantas has selected the A350-1000 as the preferred aircraft if Sunrise proceeds. This aircraft which is powered by the Rolls Royce Trent XWB engine, has a strong reliability record after being in service with airlines for more than two years. Airbus will add an additional fuel tank and slightly increase the maximum takeoff weight to deliver the performance required for Sunrise routes.
No orders have been placed but Qantas will work closely with Airbus to prepare contract terms for up to 12 aircraft ahead of a final decision by the Qantas Board.
Airbus has agreed to extend the deadline to confirm delivery slots from February 2020 to March 2020. This provides additional time to negotiate an industrial agreement without impacting the planned start date of Project Sunrise flights in the first half of calendar 2023.
REGULATORY APPROVAL
The last of three Project Sunrise research flights (New York to Sydney) will be conducted on 17 December. Once complete, Qantas will have almost 60 hours of ‘Sunrise flying’ experience and thousands of data points on crew and passenger wellbeing.
The data for crew will be used as part of final discussions with the Civil Aviation Safety Authority to approve an extension to current operating limits required for these ultra long haul services. Based on detailed information already provided by Qantas on its fatigue risk management system, CASA has provisionally advised that it sees no regulatory obstacles to the Sunrise flights.
PILOT NEGOTIATIONS
Industrial negotiations with representatives for Qantas pilots, AIPA, are continuing. The discussions are aimed at closing the last remaining gap in the Project Sunrise business case. Qantas has put forward a number of suggestions to AIPA on how the gap might be closed while still offering three per cent annual pay increases and promotional opportunities to its long haul pilots. Discussions centre on productivity and efficiency gains, including the ability to use the same pilots across its A350 Sunrise aircraft and the airline’s existing fleet of Airbus A330s.
CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE
Design of the customer experience for flights up to 21 hours continues, including new cabins across First Class, Business, Premium Economy and Economy. Research flights have underscored the importance of dedicated space for stretching and movement for Economy passengers in particular, as well as the potential benefits from re-designing the service on board to actively shift people to their destination timezone.
China Airlines A350 Business Class area
CEO COMMENTS
Qantas Group CEO Alan Joyce said the national carrier’s support for Project Sunrise was stronger than ever, particularly after the success of recent ‘dry run’ research flights.
“Between the research flights and what we’ve learned from two years of flying Perth to London, we have a lot of confidence in the market for direct services like New York and London to the east coast of Australia.
“The A350 is a fantastic aircraft and the deal on the table with Airbus gives us the best possible combination of commercial terms, fuel efficiency, operating cost and customer experience.
“The aircraft and engine combination is next generation technology but it’s thoroughly proven after more than two years in service. This is the right choice for the Sunrise missions and it also has the right economics to do other long haul routes if we want it to.
“From the outset, we’ve been clear that Project Sunrise depends on a business case that works. We’ll only commit to this investment if we know it will generate the right return for our shareholders given the inherent commercial risks.
“We’ve done a lot of work on the economics and we know the last gap we have to close is some efficiency gains associated with our pilots. We’re offering promotions and an increase in pay but we’re asking for some flexibility in return, which will help lower our operating costs.
“Airbus has given us an extra month to lock in an aircraft order without impacting our planned start date, which means we can spend more time on hopefully reaching a deal with our pilots.
“Can I thank both Airbus and Boeing for the tremendous effort they have put into Project Sunrise. It was a tough choice between two very capable aircraft, made even harder by innovation from both manufacturers to improve on what they had already spent years designing.”
China Airlines A350 cockpit
AIRBUS A350 FLIGHTS TO AUSTRALIA
Currently the Airbus A350 Can be seen at many Australian Ports and in the form of many Airlines. China Airlines, Singapore, Cathay Pacific (in both the 900 and 1000 versions), Thai Airways, QATAR, China Eastern, Fiji Airways, Philippines, Vietnam Airlines. The type is now also in service with many other airlines including and not limited to, Delta Airlines, British Airways, Air France, Lufthansa, JAL, Finnair, LATAM and Sichuan Airlines.
China-Airlines, B-18918
Singapore-Airlines, 9V-SMA
Vietnam-Airlines, VN-A891
QATAR, A7-ALB
Cathay-Pacific, B-LRG
China-Eastern, B-304N
Thai-Airways, HS-THH
Delta Airlines N5073
Finnair, OH-LWE
Sichuan Airlines, B-304U
Cathay-A350-1000, B-LXK
So far some 377 airframes in two main versions, the 900 and 1000 have rolled out of the Toulouse factory in France with over 600 committed so far to airline operators and even a couple of Military versions. The airliner sure has a health order book with the impending QANTAS order the type will be a common site around Australia for many years to come.
Dave Soderstrom
A350-1000 for QF, I have had 5 flights on this a/c with SQ and QATAR and very enjoyable, but so was my 4 B787 flights. I think QF is pushing the limits here and instead should be concentrating on serving decent food on its domestic and international services, currently laughable !
This a last gasp effort from a CEO who is just reaching for glory; before he gets the push.
Airlines have conveniently forgotten about the dreaded DVT issue, ever tried going for a walk on a long distance flight, cabin crew just ask you where you are going and almost actively discourage it.
Not for me SYD/LHR direct.