One of the aviation industry’s most highly anticipated ultra long-haul flight projects has hit another unexpected hurdle, with Australian flag carrier Qantas confirming its game-changing non-stop Sydney-to-London and Sydney-to-New York initiative will not launch until 2027 following a four-month extension to delivery delays from aircraft manufacturer Airbus.
Dubbed Project Sunrise – a tribute to Qantas’ iconic World War II Double Sunrise flights that saw crews cross multiple time zones and witness two sunrises on a single journey – the decades-in-the-making initiative aims to redefine long-distance air travel by connecting Australia’s densely populated east coast directly to major western hubs without any layovers. The project relies on custom-built Airbus A350-1000URL aircraft, modified with an extra rear-center fuel tank that holds an additional 20,000 liters of jet fuel to power the 18+ hour ultra-long journeys.
Airbus, the European aerospace giant, attributed the latest delay to ongoing global supply chain disruptions that have rippled across its entire A350 production line, impacting all scheduled deliveries of the popular wide-body aircraft model. Prior to this setback, the first commercial launch of Project Sunrise flights was targeted for 2026, following a multi-year delay triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic that pushed the original 2023 launch date back three years.
In an official statement provided to NewsWire, Qantas confirmed the revised timeline, noting that while the first custom A350 will now arrive in April 2027, the four subsequent aircraft will be delivered in rapid succession. By November of the same year, the airline expects to be back aligned with its original overall deployment schedule for the project.
“We continue to work closely with Airbus on the delivery and certification process that will enable us to begin operating these history-making ultra long-haul flights,” a Qantas spokesperson said.
Despite the delivery delay, progress on pre-launch preparations remains on track. Qantas revealed that the first modified aircraft is currently being painted at Airbus’ facility in Toulouse, France, and is set to begin critical test flights in the coming weeks. Pilot training for the new ultra long-haul routes is also already well underway, with crew completing simulation training at Qantas’ Sydney training center.
Once operational, Project Sunrise flights are projected to cut total travel time between Sydney and London or New York by up to four hours compared to existing one-stop connecting routes. Qantas already operates the world’s second-longest non-stop commercial route, between Perth and London, with a flight time of roughly 18 hours. The new Project Sunrise services will extend that range by more than three hours for flights departing Sydney, pushing the boundaries of modern civilian aviation to new limits.