Qantas Project Sunrise business class: what we know

Where Project Sunrise stands in October 2026

Project Sunrise is Qantas's plan to fly Australia's east coast to London and New York without stopping, on a custom Airbus A350-1000ULR. It has been announced for years and has slipped more than once, so the useful question is not whether the idea is real but which parts are firm.

In June 2026 Qantas named Sydney to London as the first route, with flights from October 2027 and tickets on sale from February 2027. In September 2026 Qantas confirmed Sydney to New York as the second route, starting in mid-2028 with tickets on sale from August 2027. Qantas expects a flight time of about 18 hours. Qantas says it needs three aircraft to run a daily service on either route, and it has 12 of the ultra-long-range A350s on order.

The honest reading is that October 2027 is a target that depends on delivery and certification going to plan. Qantas said in May 2026 that it expects four more aircraft in quick succession and aims to be back on its original timeline by November 2027. Treat any itinerary you build around a specific Sunrise flight as provisional until you hold a ticket on it.

The business cabin

Qantas has shown the finished cabin. The aircraft seats 238 in four classes: 6 first suites, 52 business suites, 40 premium economy seats and 140 in economy. For a plane that will spend up to 22 hours in the air, it is a deliberately small cabin. A standard A350-1000 carries a lot more people.

• Layout: business is 1-2-1, so every suite has direct aisle access.
• Bed: 80 inches long, with a dining table and work surface in each suite.
• Door: these are the first Qantas business suites with a sliding door, a feature several airlines, including Qatar and Cathay, already offer.
• Centre pair: an adjustable divider sits between the alternating centre seats, which matters if you are travelling as a couple.
• Dining and light: meal timing and cabin lighting are designed around sleep research from the University of Sydney's Charles Perkins Centre, so expect flexible dining rather than a fixed service.

A wellbeing zone with stretch handles, a guided movement programme and refreshments sits between premium economy and economy. It is a talking point more than a booking reason for business class, and we could not confirm how business passengers will be able to use it, so do not count on it as part of the suite.

What it means for business class prices and seats

Qantas has not published fares, so any figure you see quoted for a Sunrise business ticket is a guess. What can be said is structural. Today's Sydney to London service stops in Singapore and takes up to four hours longer than the nonstop, according to Qantas. A nonstop that saves that much time is a different product, and airlines usually price a different product differently.

The seat count also matters. A Qantas A380 carries 70 business seats; the Sunrise A350 carries 52. Fewer seats per departure, on a route that may have strong demand from people who do not want a stopover, could make cheap Sunrise business fares less common than cheap fares on a large aircraft. That is our expectation, not a measurement, and we would not plan on Sunrise being a bargain in its first year.

What to do between now and October 2027

If you are travelling to London before then, Sunrise changes nothing. The question stays the same: a single ticket via a hub, or two separate tickets joined at a hub. Our guide to Sydney to London in business class, booked as two tickets covers how the second option works and what it costs you in risk. A third route is a single ticket through Doha, which Virgin Australia sells on Qatar aircraft.

If you are flexible on dates and want to try the nonstop in its first season, the timing is simple to plan around. Fares go on sale in February 2027, which is when to start watching, and our guide on when to book long-haul business class looks at how timing affects the fare you pay.

Kaviqa's business class deals page tracks what is on sale now, on the routes that exist today. When Sunrise tickets open, the comparison that decides whether the nonstop is worth it is its price against the one-stop and split-ticket options for the same dates, so keep those open in another tab.