Qantas 777
Although Qantas did not choose the Boeing 777-200LR, it has been rumoured that Qantas is still looking into buying aircraft capable of flying Sydney–London non-stop. 44 In December 2006, Qantas was the subject of a failed bid from a consortium calling itself Airline Partners Australia.
- Qantas aren’t the only airline weighing up the B777X against the A350. Thai Airways have previously said these are the two models in contention for their widebody fleet renewal, and Korean Air are also weighing up the two aircraft for a large order to modernise their fleet too. The Boeing 777X.
- The 777-8X is also a likely candidate for Qantas. The plane comes with a higher capacity than that of the A350-900ULR. Alan Joyce confirmed that the carrier was in talks with Boeing but was only seeking details about the weight of the aircraft, which is still months away from entering into production.
- The 777-8X is also a likely candidate for Qantas. The plane comes with a higher capacity than that of the A350-900ULR. Alan Joyce confirmed that the carrier was in talks with Boeing but was only seeking.
- Qantas is considering the Airbus A350 and Boeing 777X as potential replacements for its ageing fleet of Boeing 747 jumbo jets. In a presentation held in Seattle over the weekend, ahead of today's delivery.
Qantas will revisit plans to offer ultra-long-haul flights from the east coast of Australia to markets such as London and New York by the end of this year with an eye toward launching the flights in 2024, the airline’s CEO, Alan Joyce, revealed during one of a series of Eurocontrol “Straight Talk” interviews on Tuesday. Known as Project Sunrise, the plan originally called for a launch in early 2023 of flights between Sydney and London with Airbus A350-1000s. The airline had just gotten ready to place an order for the aircraft before the Covid crisis took hold last spring.
In late 2019 Qantas chose the A350-1000 over the proposed Boeing 777-8X for the missions and indicated it would likely need 12 airplanes. Plans called for Airbus to add another fuel tank and slightly increase the A350-1000’s maximum takeoff weight to give it the required range.
The airline performed three test flights between Sydney and New York/London using a Boeing 787, collecting nearly 60 hours of “Sunrise flying” experience and thousands of data points on crew and passenger well-being. The research flights underscored the importance of dedicated space for stretching and movement for economy passengers in particular, as well as the potential benefits from redesigning the service onboard to actively shift people to their destination time zone.
“We were taking it unbelievably seriously,” said Joyce. “We were literally weeks away from ordering the aircraft. We had done the deal with Airbus, the aircraft was capable of doing it…and we had done a deal with our pilots; 86 percent voted in favor of a new enterprise agreement. So we were planning to order the aircraft and introduce it in 2023.”
Tense negotiations between Qantas and the union representing its pilots, AIPA, centered on so-called productivity and efficiency gains, including the ability to use the same pilots across the A350 Sunrise fleet and the airline’s existing Airbus A330s, in return for 3 percent annual pay increases and promotion opportunities.
“The economics before Covid-19 were very strong,” said Joyce. “Perth-London was the most profitable route on our international network and had the highest customer satisfaction in our network, believe it or not, on the longest route.”
Joyce noted the special position in which Qantas sits for making the economies of scale work for such long-haul flying. “It is a unique opportunity for Qantas because Australia is so far away from everywhere,” said Joyce. “We could apply a fleet with a significant [number] of aircraft that makes it economic, whereas if you’re a BA or a Lufthansa, probably the only place you need the aircraft for is Australia.”
Qantas’s plans call for flights from the three major cities on the east coast of Australia—Sydney, Melbourne, and Brisbane—to destinations including London; Frankfurt, Germany; Paris; New York; Chicago; Rio de Janeiro; and Cape Town, South Africa.
Over the past several months, Qantas has finally started to take concrete steps towards making its long rumored project Sunrise a reality. Qantas has announced which aircraft manufacturer would supply the new jets needed to fly between London and Sydney. That manufacturer turns out to be Airbus and those planes are A350s, but what led Qantas to go with Airbus instead of Boeing?
First it’s important to note what type of A350 Qantas intends to operate. Currently three A350 variants exist, the A350-900, 900ULR and the 1000. That grouping is about to get just a bit bigger though, since Airbus will be building an all-new A350 variant for Qantas. This new plane ostensibly called the A350-1000ULR, will be nearly identical to the A350 1000.
At first, this might seem like an odd choice. Qantas has publicly stated that they only intend to put about 300 seats on board, but the 1000 can carry 370. In comparison, the A350-900, the little brother of 1000, has an optimal seating capacity that’s much closer to that 300 seat mark.
By going with this larger plane, Qantas is signalling that it is foregoing operating costs in favor of passenger comfort. Qantas will now have the flexibility to experiment with new cabin features, such as lounges and exercise areas, ensuring customers can stay sane during their 20 hours in the air.
The interior of this 1000ULR will feature a much less dense configuration. The exterior will look identical to the 1000, the only real difference between these two planes is that Airbus will add additional fuel tanks to the 1000ULR. This is a necessity since the 1000’s range is well short of the distance between London and Sydney. Making such modification should be relatively easy, meaning the plane will be available pretty soon.
Boeing 777x Vs Airbus A380
This is the key reason why Qantas went with this jet, rather than what Boeing had offered. The plane Boeing had originally brought to Qantas was their 777-8, a plane that’s yet to be built.
Not only have engine issues pushed back the Boeing’s 777-8’s first flight, but there’s also a growing sense that Boeing is deep prioritizing its development as engineers continue to address a fix for the troubled 737 MAX.
Meanwhile, the A350-1000 has been flying reliably for a couple of years now, and the majority of its teething issues have already been ironed out. At the end of the day, Qantas probably just sees the A350-1000 as a much safer bet than the 777-8.
Another factor Qantas is taking into account is fleet commonality. As it stands right now, Qantas has 90 Boeing jets in its fleet and just 40 Airbus. Conventional wisdom would lead one to think that Qantas would favor Boeing in this instance, however it’s important to note that of those 90 Boeing jets, just 15 of them are widebodies. Meanwhile all of Qantas 40 Airbus jets are intended for long-haul operations.
Qantas 777 Seat Map
From a training and maintenance perspective, going with Airbus makes a lot of sense. Since the majority of Qantas long-haul pilots and cabin crews already fly Airbus widebodies. It’ll be faster and cheaper to train them on new A350s, than it would on new Boeing jets.
Qantas 777x Order
It’s important to note that Qantas has not yet placed an order for these jets. Their intention to purchase 12 of them is contingent on whether or not Qantas can reach agreements with regulators and flight crews, to begin operation.
The reason Qantas is announcing this now, is that it ultimately allows them to begin working more closely with Airbus to refine the exact specifications of the jet. Ultimately, this will ensure a smooth entry into service once the program has the green light.