Qantas eyes larger Airbus A350 jet for Sydney-London flights: CE

Qantas is considering a larger version of the Airbus A350 as the jetmaker and Boeing vie to connect Sydney and London in a non-stop 20-hour flight by 2022, the airline’s CE said. The airline’s selection process for what would be the world’s longest commercial flight has advanced to the request for proposal stage with a purchase decision due next year, CE Alan Joyce said Thursday. Qantas had been eyeing the A350-900ULR that rival SIA will use to relaunch flights from Singapore to New York this year. It is still considering the Boeing 777-8, which has a higher seating capacity. Airbus said in June it could look to develop an ultra-long range version of the larger A350-1000 that might suit Qantas, which has set a goal of 300 passenger seats on London flights, including an economy class offering. <br/>