The world’s longest flight is about to get a little longer. The crown for flight times belongs to Singapore Airlines, which clocks in at 18 and a half hours for its leap from New York to Singapore using A350-900s. But Qantas Airways has just ordered 12 Airbus A350-1000 aircraft, which will have the ability to fly from Australia to, well, just about anywhere—nonstop.
The Aussie flagship is designing nonstop flights from Sydney to New York with a launching date of late 2025. The flights will run just under 20 hours and will be perfect for business travelers as more than 40 percent of the cabin space is dedicated to premium travel. The A350-1000 design has been a game changer, allowing Qantas to operate from a number of gateways that, until now, have not offered efficient routes. The new aircraft pack a range of 8,700 nautical miles (the distance between New York and Sydney is 8,636). The engineering also boasts fuel efficiency that emits 25-percent fewer CO2 emissions.
“The A350 will make almost any city in the world just one flight away from Australia,” Qantas Group CEO Alan Joyce notes. “It’s the last frontier and the final fix for the tyranny of distance that has traditionally challenged travel to Australia.”
The airline is also focusing on ways to make these trips carbon-neutral with plant-based fuel additives. The new flights to Sydney are expected to launch from London, Buenos Aires and New York initially and be seen as a premium product—something passengers will be willing to pay extra for to avoid time-challenging stopovers in such international connecting hubs as Dubai, Singapore and Los Angeles.
