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Qantas has confirmed its order for 12 Airbus A350-1000s for its ultra-long-haul Project Sunrise initiative, with the first flights from Sydney to New York and London slated for a late-2025 launch.

The announcement on 2 May is part of a wider aircraft order – said to be the single largest order in Australian aviation – which also sees the carrier also firm up its single-aisle fleet commitments for A321XLR and A220 jets.

Separately, Qantas has firmed up its orders for 40 A220s and A321XLRs – meant for its domestic and short-haul fleet – with deliveries set to commence in late-2023.

https://www.flightglobal.com/fleets/qan ... 80.article

Airbus have been pulling out all the stops to guide QF away from A320 and towards the A220 as they see the Australian routes as a big shop window for the Asian markets that are currently reluctant to consider the type for their lower density, short to medium haul routes. The airBaltic A223 that's headed down under for the Ozzies to play with took a route that deliberately mimicked the longest trans-Australian routes and demonstrated the type's absolute range on the way down, which can't have been a cheap exercise and shows just how determined Airbus are to win over both the large and niche markets outside of Europe and the US.

The A35X flying ULH will be an interesting one. IMO the SYD-JFK route could do well owing to how much it takes off current travel times but the SYD-LHR will struggle as it will prove a very costly way to save 4-5 hours vs. one stopping with the Gulf carriers

Did I ever mention a terrible series of flights I had last year?

RKS-SLC-DEN-IAD-ZRH-DXB-XXY-XXZ to Central Asia, all in COACH. It was one of the most miserable experiences I've ever had. Far worse than coach. I'd do almost anything to avoid stops anymore, but I'm still not sure that SYD-LHR would be worth it given the very nice shower facilities at DXB. Up front might be fine, but in back, if the flight is even close to full? What a living hell!

Anyway, personal memories of horror aside, that's a nice selection of AC. I think that A321XLR was pushed back a bit for deliveries, but I might be misremembering things. It seems like they needed to add extra fire protection to the under-cabin fuel tank.

I have yet to fly the A220. We don't have many of them flying in the Rocky Mountains for some reason.

I'd far rather take a break in the middle and stretch my legs, get some decent food, and breathe two lots of 10-hour-old farts instead of one 20-hour batch. (They don't work like whisky.) It's a little soul-destroying when you board the second leg knowing you have the same thing in front of you again, but it's worth it. And for as long as Finnair Plus continues to award status based on number of flights, the more legs the better

Ultra-long-haul doesn't really appeal to me, even if I could afford to do it in business or first. I'll take the time hit and break up the journey, especially if it's somewhere like SIN (still on my bucket list) or somewhere that a longer stopover is included. Of course, my opinion might well be different if I only had two weeks' paid vacation time.

ShanwickOceanic wrote:I'd far rather take a break in the middle and stretch my legs, get some decent food, and breathe two lots of 10-hour-old farts instead of one 20-hour batch. (They don't work like whisky.) It's a little soul-destroying when you board the second leg knowing you have the same thing in front of you again, but it's worth it. And for as long as Finnair Plus continues to award status based on number of flights, the more legs the better

Ultra-long-haul doesn't really appeal to me, even if I could afford to do it in business or first. I'll take the time hit and break up the journey, especially if it's somewhere like SIN (still on my bucket list) or somewhere that a longer stopover is included. Of course, my opinion might well be different if I only had two weeks' paid vacation time.

I think that the perfect flight length is about 12 hours. Time to eat, sleep; eat. Longest I've been on was about 17 hours or so and that was ok as there were 40 ppl on the 773ER.

Limited vacation does suck. I'd love to visit New Caledonia, but I'd burn like 25% of the vacation, or more, in transit. That's actually one reason I picked working in the People's Republic, as at least vacation-quality recreation is literally just behind my residence. (Though the costs for the parasailing/gliding--not sure, I confuse them-- are not what I am willing to pay.)