Qantas has its eye on non-stop Sydney to New York flights using the advanced Boeing 777-8X jetliner, which the airline has touted as a potential replacement for its flagship Airbus A380 superjumbo.
The direct route would swap the long-standing Los Angeles stopover for a 19 hour ‘Harbour Bridge to Hudson’ trek, which would not only be Qantas’ longest flight but the world’s longest.
But it will require the next-generation of aircraft due in the early part of the next decade, when Qantas will look to refresh its long-range international fleet.
Speaking at a media lunch in Sydney last week, Qantas Airways CEO Alan Joyce revealed that the airline “puts 300 people a day to New York anyway, so the market’s growing – it’s just that we can’t do (non-stop) with the technology (we have today).
“Once the technology happens we would go there straight away” Joyce told Australian Business Traveller.
“We’re looking at the new 777-8X that would potentially have the range to do it, but that doesn’t come until (the early) 2020s.”
Qantas already plans to begin flying the smaller Boeing 787-9 from late 2017 but the Boeing 777-8X is very much under consideration.
“We’ve got people that work with Boeing and Airbus – we have worked (together) on the A380, we did a lot of work with the 787 (and) we’re doing work with them on the 777(-8X),” Joyce said.
When asked if there was really a market for passengers willing to take such a long flight, Qantas International CEO Gareth Evans gave an unequivocal “yes”.
“It might not be for everybody,” Evans continues. “If you don’t want to do that then there are plenty of opportunities to connect over Dallas or LA, but there will be a market of people who want to get on the plane and get off where their ultimate destination is.”
Evans also highlights that on a route this long, the aircraft needs to be “configured appropriately”, with a “premium configuration” currently under assessment, paired with “the right amount of galley space” to store and prepare what could become three inflight meals for each passenger.
“It’s going to have to have the ability to look after customers for long amounts of time… (and) the technology that’s coming with the 777-X can facilitate that, absolutely; we’d want to fly it.”
Ultra-long flights: the new norm
Joyce takes a page out of history when looking to the future of flying, noting that Qantas’ flights from Sydney to Vancouver in 1954 detoured via Fiji, Hawaii and San Francisco, which meant a total of 31 hours spent flying in between, but with the stops helping to break up the time.
“Back then, people were saying ‘imagine flying direct – that would be too long on an aircraft for 14 hours’”, Joyce continues, “yet now people would never do those kinds of (routings) with today’s aircraft.”
Would passengers really want to fly non-stop?
Passengers on today’s Qantas Sydney-New York flights break the journey at LAX with 1hr 55m between touchdown and take-off, during which they can stretch their legs and squeeze in a quick shower in the lounge before completing their 21hr journey.
Eliminating that stop would bring the trip closer to 19 hours, but that’s still 3.5 hours longer than today’s Sydney-Dallas/Fort Worth run.
Singapore Airlines is also eying non-stop flights to New York from its home hub in 2018 using a special long-range version of the Airbus A350.
Those long-legged A350s will also carry fewer passengers than the conventional A350 which SQ will begin flying in January 2015, but they’ll enjoy more comfort thanks to all-new business and first class seating.
Australian Business Traveller
QANTAS reveals “Retro Roo II”
A newly reconfigured Qantas Boeing 737-800 painted in vintage 1960s livery has been unveiled in Sydney as the national carrier celebrates 95 years of flying.
Retro Roo II (VH-VXQ) has the same livery that featured on Qantas’ Boeing 707 jets from 1959 to 1961 – when the flying kangaroo helped revolutionise long-haul travel.
The B707 represented a step-change in aviation and Qantas was the first carrier outside the United States to operate the jet. In 1959, Qantas used it to become the first airline to operate regular passenger jet services across the Pacific Ocean, connecting Sydney and San Francisco.
Qantas was also the first airline to offer a round-the-world jet service with the B707. The flying time was 70 hours compared to 127 hours with the Super Constellation aircraft that the B707 replaced. Today a Qantas flight from Sydney to London stops just once, in Dubai, and takes 21 flying hours.
Welcoming the freshly-painted jet into a hangar with more than 300 employees, Qantas Group CEO Alan Joyce described the vintage livery as a flying tribute to the airline’s history of innovation.
“None of the past 95 years would have been possible without all those who have worked for Qantas with such commitment and passion. Tens of thousands of people have dedicated their whole careers to the national carrier and many who work here today are the third or fourth generation in their family to do so,” he added.
“As we celebrate our 95th birthday today, I hope this livery inspires a sense of pride in what our national airline has achieved during all those years of taking Australians around the world and bringing them safely home again,” said Mr Joyce.
“A large part of the national pride people feel towards the flying kangaroo comes from the fact it has been responsible for so many innovations in global aviation.
“We were the first airline to introduce business class, we have operated record breaking endurance flights throughout our history and we’ve helped pioneer many breakthroughs in aviation technology.
“Innovation is still at the core of Qantas and we’re now looking to a new generation of aircraft with the arrival of Qantas’ first B787 Dreamliners in 2017. Like the 707 in 1959, these aircraft are at the cutting edge of aviation and we’re really excited about the opportunities they’ll open up for our customers.
The arrival of Retro Roo II, which was painted in Townsville, is part of Qantas’ 95th birthday celebrations. Events so far have included an Australia-wide Instameet and Qantas’ charity flight to Longreach, which raised over $110,000 for drought relief. A gala dinner for over 1,000 people in the airline’s A380 hangar in Mascot on Friday rounds out the activities.
Retro Roo II is the second Qantas 737 aircraft in vintage livery. Retro Roo I was launched last November, featuring the livery of 1971-1984, and regularly appears on social media as passengers photograph it at airports across the country.
Earlier this year, Qantas donated its record-breaking B747-400 (VH-OJA) to an aviation museum staffed largely by former Qantas employees. The aircraft was significant for operating the world’s longest non-stop flight from London to Sydney in 1989, and is now a big tourism draw for the Illawarra region.
QANTAS