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Qantas to order 12 ultra-long-range A350 or 777X next year for "Project Sunrise" routes

Soumis
 
The Australian flag carrier has already carried out two research flights for these routes with no paying passenger on board on New York - Sydney and London - Sydney routes with its Dreamliners. The third and the last research flight with a Boeing 787-9 jet will be conducted next month. (airlinerwatch.com) Plus d'info...

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nasdisco
Chris B 5
This project has generated lots of noise....but profitable sales interest airplane manufacturers, and 12 aircraft isn't enough.....
spaulsen121
spaulsen121 2
It's not like Airbus has already developed an ULR version of one of their jets for an even smaller order size or anything *cough cough* 7 ULRs for Singapore *cough cough*
jeffinsydney
jeff slack 1
TorstenHoff
Torsten Hoff 5
He is saying that neither Boeing nor Airbus have shown much interest in developing an aircraft with a market size of 12 planes.
rrtbj
Ron Fletcher 3
Simple question - 20 hours in economy on a premium fare?? 14 hours on an A 380 sector is bad enough.
VivPike
Viv Pike 2
Unless the aircraft are configured in a 2-class with only Business and Premium Economy.
scott8733
scott8733 5
Methinks it's more appropriate to call these megaroutes "Project Percocet", or "Project Jack Daniels".....cause for yours truly- there ain't enough of either on this planet to keep me sitting still for that long.
aluedi
In ECO it is mainly a matter of seat comfort = seat width, and air quality = humidity.
I do regularly HKG-ZRH in ECO. 3-4-3 offering 17 inches width sucks, and should be disallowed by law!
flieger90
Norman West 2
It's just initial order. Qantas wants more aircraft but also wants Airbus and Boeing to make some modifications on the A350 and 777X to order more. It's still a conflict point between Qantas and both manufacturers.
patpylot
patrick baker -2
the 777 has the cargo and passenger capacity, and thus ought to be the choice. There are no other city pairs i am aware of that require a 20 hour endurance, so this order in the grand scheme or things is more symbolic than anything else. Very few follow up orders available here.
VivPike
Viv Pike 1
LAX and/or SEA to JNB would require there or thereabouts I would think .... It would be nice (for some, I am sure) to be able to get from the US West Coast direct to SA.
williambaker08
william baker 0
I could lend you a Airship that may get you from the west coast to SA direct.
VivPike
Viv Pike 1
From what I can gather (just basic numbers ...)
LHR- SYD = 10,600 miles
LAX - JNB = 10,400
SEA - JNB = 10,300
JFK - SYD = 9,900
nasdisco
Chris B 1
Thanks for those Viv.

Proves up the need for far more range than the 777 currently offers. But if Boeing is going the 777 route, payload will need to be restricted and additional tanks will be needed.

Not impossible to do, just engineering.
VivPike
Viv Pike 1
William - further to the above, I can also add the following.
Currently there are only 2 direct flights from the US to SA (both to JNB).
SAA flies JFK-JNB, while Delta flies ATL-JNB.
There are NO direct flights out of the USA to CPT (one of the largest tourist destinations in SA.
That said,
LAX - CPT = 10,000 miles
SEA - CPT = 10,200 miles

Another point to consider is that the USA has the most tourists visiting SA than any other country, with US tourists making up more than a fifth of all tourists to SA. Yet with only 2 direct daily flights to SA, compared to about 20 or 30 (maybe more) direct flights into SA from Europe.

Considering that Qantas want to fly LHR - SYD at around 10,600 miles, I don't think the US West Coast direct to SA is a stretch of the imagination.

spaulsen121
spaulsen121 1
While they haven't started yet, next month the number of non-stops to SA is going to be increasing by one; UA is going to be starting a seasonal non-stop from EWR to CPT.
VivPike
Viv Pike 1
My last point on this topic ....

Tourist Numbers to SA (12 months end May 2019)
USA = 21.5%
UK = 13.1%
Germany = 7.1%

Direct Daily Flights to SA
USA = 2 (both to JNB)
UK = 8 (2 of which are A380's) (CPT = 3, DUR = 1, JNB = 4)
Germany = 5 (CPT = 2, JNB = 3)

To me, it is clear that US tourists travel to SA via Europe. Or via the Middle East, which also have a boat-load of direct daily's, with multiple A380's doing the route.

Don't you think it'd make sense to have more direct flights from the USA (including the West Coast) to SA?
TorstenHoff
Torsten Hoff 1
The design range for the 777-200LR is only 8,555 miles, about 2,000 miles short of what is needed.

Qantas has said that they aren't interested in flying existing aircraft at less-than-full load, so the potential for a 777-200LR to make the trip with a reduced passenger count isn't good enough for them. That's why they are pushing Boeing and Airbus to offer a model that satisfies their requirements.
dck787
Donald Knowles -7
Qantas is a religious airline - Only God knows if you will arrive
TorstenHoff
Torsten Hoff 5
You do know that Qantas has never had a fatal accident, right?

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