Qantas Targets Mid-2028 for Sydney–New York Nonstops, Pending A350-1000ULR Certification

SYDNEY — Qantas (QF) plans to launch nonstop flights between Sydney (SYD) and New York in mid-2028, making New York the second route for the 12 Airbus A350-1000s it ordered in 2022 for Project Sunrise.

Qantas announced the launch window on September 22 and said tickets are set to go on sale from August 2027. The airline said aircraft delivery, ticket sales, and the start of service all remain subject to regulatory approvals and certification of the aircraft. The announcement did not name the New York airport or say how often the flights will operate.

"From 2028, our customers will be able to board in Sydney and arrive in New York around 18 hours later without stopping once, cutting around three hours off the current fastest travel time," Qantas Group CEO Vanessa Hudson said.

Qantas describes the route as the first nonstop commercial service between Australia and New York. The carrier has flown New York–Sydney nonstop before, during Project Sunrise research in 2019. In October that year, a research flight from New York landed in Sydney after 19 hrs 16 mins with 49 passengers and crew on board. It was operated by a new Boeing 787-9, VH-ZNI, positioned to New York after delivery from Seattle, and was used to study passenger and crew well-being on ultra-long-haul sectors.

New York follows London

Qantas had already named New York as the next Sunrise destination in June, when it set October 2027 for the first Sydney–London flights. Qantas' June announcement also said that London tickets would go on sale in February 2027 and that New York launch timing would be announced in 2027.

Executive Traveller reported that the mid-2028 window is later than Hudson had signaled at a media briefing at Airbus' Toulouse headquarters, where she pointed to a late-2027 start for New York at less than daily frequency. The September announcement did not address the change.

The Auckland one-stop and New York demand

Qantas first reached New York in 1958 on its inaugural round-the-world service, flying from Sydney via Fiji, Honolulu, and San Francisco. Its current daily Sydney–New York flight stops in Auckland (AKL), a routing Qantas scheduled to begin in June 2023 when it returned to New York after a three-year pandemic hiatus. Executive Traveller also reported that Qantas says the Auckland service will remain after the nonstop flights begin.

Qantas cited Australian Bureau of Statistics data showing visitor arrivals from the US up 5% year-on-year, and said demand in and out of New York on its network has nearly doubled since 2023. It also repeated findings from research conducted for the airline in May, which showed Australians' intent to book nonstop ultra-long-haul flights rising from 58% to 70% since February and reaching 80% among premium travelers.

Qantas says nearly two million passengers have flown its nonstop flights from Perth to London, Rome, and Paris, Melbourne–Dallas, and Auckland–New York since 2018.

The A350-1000ULR's path to service

The aircraft, designated A350-1000ULR, carry an additional fuel tank of about 5,300 US gal (20,000 lit). Qantas says the extra fuel gives the aircraft a range of more than 9,900 miles (16,000km) and up to 22 hrs of flying time.

Each aircraft will have 238 seats across four cabins: six First suites, 52 Business suites, 40 Premium Economy seats, and 140 Economy seats, 42 of which will be sold as Economy Plus with 34-inch (86cm) pitch. Qantas says that gives the aircraft the lowest seat density of any A350 in the world.

Between the Premium Economy and Economy cabins, Qantas will install what it calls a Wellbeing Zone, with stretch handles, a guided on-screen movement program, and a hydration station. The airline says the cabin design draws on a decade of research with the University of Sydney's Charles Perkins Centre.

The first A350-1000ULR built for Qantas completed a Melbourne–Toulouse test flight lasting more than 24 hrs in July. Qantas expects its first delivery in April 2027. Its pilots have begun training on an A350 simulator in Sydney, and the airline plans to have trained more than 360 pilots and 1,200 cabin crew for the program by the time the 12th aircraft arrives.