It will be the longest passenger flight in the world: 19 hours non-stop from London or New York to Australia. Airline Qantas has now made public the first images of the extra luxurious interior of the new aircraft.
The new connection has been named Project Sunrise because the flight is so long that passengers will see the sun rise twice during their time on board. Qantas will fly the route from 2025 with twelve new Airbus A350 aircraft. To give travelers on the monster flight a little more space, the planes will carry ‘only’ 238 passengers. Normally there are more than 300 people in such aircraft.
“We started the design five years ago and tried to create maximum space. The lighting will be set according to the sleeping patterns of the passengers,” says David Caon, who designed the cabin. There will also be a special area where passengers can stretch their legs.
It is now known what the First Class and Business Class will look like. The First Class seats, or rather separate suites, have a bed, a chair, a 32-inch TV on the wall and a wardrobe.
The Business Class has seats that can turn into a two-metre long bed. Those seats can also be closed off from the rest of the cabin with a sliding door.
The appearance of the premium economy and economy parts of the device is not yet known. Qantas does report that there will be fast WiFi and a Bluetooth connection throughout the aircraft.
What is also not yet known are the prices of a one-way or return ticket London – Sydney with this plane.
Experiments have been going on for some time with the extremely long flight. The Australian authorities did not want to give permission for the scheduled flight until it was clear that the aircraft could possibly remain in the air for 23 hours without harmful consequences for the occupants. During test flights in 2019, the brain activity of the pilots was monitored. In the weeks after the flight, their urine was tested to see how the exercise would affect their condition. The health of the passengers was also tested.
Currently, the longest commercial scheduled service is from John F. Kennedy Airport in New York to Singapore, taking 18 hours and 40 minutes.
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