Qantas has named the Airbus A350-1000 as its preferred choice for its ultra-long-haul plan known as Project Sunrise, although a final decision is still to come.
The carrier had been assessing aircraft proposals from Boeing and Airbus to operate nonstop flights from Australia’s east coast cities to London or New York by the first half of 2023. While Qantas stressed it has yet to place an order, “after detailed evaluation of the Boeing 777X and Airbus A350, Qantas has selected the A350-1000 as the preferred aircraft if Sunrise proceeds.”
Qantas said it has extended its estimate for a “final go/no go decision” on Project Sunrise until March 2020. It had previously said it wanted to make a decision by the end of 2019.
Airbus has agreed to extend the deadline for confirming delivery slots until March, Qantas said. The airline intends to “work closely with Airbus to prepare contract terms for up to 12 aircraft ahead of a final decision by the Qantas board.” Airbus will add an extra fuel tank and “slightly increase the maximum takeoff weight” on the -1000s to meet Qantas’ requirements, according to the airline.
Qantas said reaching a deal with pilots is “the last remaining gap on the Project Sunrise business case.” Negotiations with pilots are continuing, and the airline said it has proposed pay increases as well as productivity gains. It wants the ability under its contracts to use the same pilots across the A350 and A330 fleets.
The carrier said Dec. 13 that “final discussions” are still required with Australia’s Civil Aviation Safety Authority to “approve an extension to current [crew] operating limits required for these ultra-long-haul services.” However, CASA “has provisionally advised that it sees no regulatory obstacles to the Sunrise flights,” Qantas said.
“The A350 is a fantastic aircraft and the deal on the table with Airbus gives us the best possible combination of commercial terms, fuel efficiency, operating cost and customer experience,” Qantas CEO Alan Joyce said. “This is the right choice for the Sunrise missions and it also has the right economics to do other long-haul routes if we want it to.”