Qantas could launch Project Sunrise flights in 2024

Qantas could introduce ultra-long-haul flights under its delayed Project Sunrise programme as soon as 2024, according to the carrier’s CE Alan Joyce. “We still want to revisit it at the end of [2021], with the potential of doing it in [2024], probably, and onwards,” Joyce said Wednesday. Initial plans would have seen Qantas order up to 12 Airbus A350-1000s last year and launch direct services from Melbourne and Sydney to London and New York from 2023. The programme was “put on ice” amid the pandemic, Joyce says, but its launch might only be delayed by 12 months or so. “That’s the timeframe that we think we could get there,” he states regarding a 2024 launch, while reiterating that Qantas was previously ”literally weeks away” from ordering A350-1000s that would be adapted for flights of up to 21 hours. <br/>