{"id":13961,"date":"2026-04-14T11:48:29","date_gmt":"2026-04-14T11:48:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/13961\/"},"modified":"2026-04-14T11:48:29","modified_gmt":"2026-04-14T11:48:29","slug":"direct-london-sydney-flights-one-step-closer-as-passengers-demand-routes-avoiding-gulf","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/13961\/","title":{"rendered":"Direct London-Sydney flights one step closer as passengers demand routes avoiding Gulf"},"content":{"rendered":"

Direct flights from the UK to Australia are one step closer to becoming a reality – as test flights are set to commence<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Qantas<\/a>‘ new Project Sunrise – involving a 22-hour flight from London<\/a> to Sydney<\/a> – is even more highly anticipated now that many passengers are keen to avoid layovers in the Gulf amid the ongoing war in the Middle East.<\/p>\n

The first Project Sunrise Airbus A350-1000ULR has been rolled out, now fitted with Rolls-Royce Trent XWB engines.<\/p>\n

It will begin a two-month flight testing programme in the coming weeks.<\/p>\n

The rollout marks the completion of the final assembly phase, with all major structural components now fitted including the fuselage, wings, tail, landing gear and engines.<\/p>\n

The flight testing will involve checking the aircraft’s systems, performance and certification of the aircraft’s ULR-specific modifications, including the additional 20,000-litre rear centre fuel tank that will make 22-hour Project Sunrise non-stop flights possible.<\/p>\n

The second Qantas Project Sunrise A350-1000ULR, which entered production in February, continues to be on the final assembly line.<\/p>\n

Qantas has confirmed the Project Sunrise fleet will be named after \u2018stars\u2019, which has a strong connection to the airline’s history.<\/p>\n

\"Test <\/p>\n

Test flights are ready to begin for\u00a0Qantas Project Sunrise direct London-Sydney flights<\/p>\n

The service is named for the phenomenon where passengers on the London route see two sunrises during their flight.\u00a0<\/p>\n

During the Second World War, Qantas’ Catalina flying boats operated ‘Double Sunrise’ flights, each named after a navigational star used to chart the route across the Indian Ocean.<\/p>\n

Each of the 12 A350-1000ULRs will carry star names into the future, a theme originally suggested by Qantas pilots and chosen by thousands of Qantas employees.<\/p>\n

The specially configured Project Sunrise A350-1000ULRs will enable the world’s longest commercial flights, connecting Australia’s east coast non-stop to London and New York for the first time, cutting up to four hours off total travel time compared with one-stop services today<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

These aircraft will be Qantas\u2019 most premium-dense aircraft with more than 40 per cent of seats in premium cabins.<\/p>\n

Qantas continues to see strong demand for point-to-point travel.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The airline\u2019s non-stop Perth to London, Paris and Rome flights, are very popular.<\/p>\n

The historic flights are set to begin in 2027<\/a>, following an extensive test flight programme this year.<\/p>\n

\"Hubs <\/p>\n

Hubs in the Middle East such as Dubai Airport could be avoided as a result<\/p>\n

Tthousands are thrilled by the idea of travelling overseas without a layover, even if it means spending 22 hours on a plane.<\/p>\n

Every aspect of the cabin has been designed to maximise passenger comfort and wellbeing, specifically for ultra-long-haul travel.<\/p>\n

The cabin’s interior has been guided by ‘medical and scientific research carried out on research flights’ in partnership with the University of Sydney’s Charles Perkins Centre.<\/p>\n

Passengers will also enjoy complimentary high-speed Wi-Fi and Bluetooth audio connectivity.<\/p>\n

Economy seats will offer the most generous seat pitch yet at 33 inches, with a six-way adjustable headrest, two fast USB-C charging outlets and a 13.3-inch entertainment touchscreen.<\/p>\n

It comes after ongoing conflict in the Middle East has put a pause on tourism in the region.<\/a><\/p>\n

Dubai and Doha airports are popular layover destinations for flights heading from London to Sydney – but passengers are keen to avoid stopping in these places.<\/p>\n

Dubai Airport has confirmed the gradual resumption of some flights to and from Dubai International (DXB) to selected destinations, but it remains at limited capacity.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Doha Airport’s website <\/a>explains: ‘Limited number of flights operating from Hamad International Airport starting 18 March 2026.<\/p>\n

‘All flights are currently operating through an authorised limited corridor approved by the Qatar Civil Aviation Authority and other relevant authorities, who continue to oversee all decisions regarding airspace operations.<\/p>\n

‘These flights do not indicate a resumption of normal operations.<\/p>\n

‘The temporary closure of Qatari airspace remains in effect due to the current situation in the region, which is beyond our control.’<\/p>\n

But a direct flight avoiding this region could increase the ease of flying to Australia amid the ongoing war.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Direct flights from the UK to Australia are one step closer to becoming a reality – as test…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":13962,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[583,169,27,6448,6449,104],"class_list":{"0":"post-13961","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-london","8":"tag-australia","9":"tag-dailymail","10":"tag-london","11":"tag-qantas","12":"tag-sydney","13":"tag-travel"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@UnitedKingdom\/116402906911721205","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13961","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13961"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13961\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13962"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13961"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13961"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13961"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}