We know that Qantas is working on ”Project Sunrise,” which is their goal of operating nonstop flights from the East Coast of Australia (Brisbane, Melbourne, and Sydney) to both London and New York.
Continue reading: Qantas’ New York To Sydney “Research” Flights: Research Or Publicity?
Share your questions, experiences, and thoughts below.
Gotta wonder if Sam Chui will be on that flight and making a video of the whole experience too 😉
Considering (as you mention) that Qantas did a non-stop flight already between London and Sydney on a 747 back in the late 80s (if I recall), and nothing more came from that regarding non-stop London-Sydney flights, then I'm going to say this is publicity.
Maybe they want to give Boeing some positive news too...
Do you know if these research flights are going to be a single run, or will they make several trips? I tend to be a bit skeptical of the 'research' aspect of these flight, but the airplane and aviation geek in me says, "Get after it!" I am curious as to what the gross weight of the jets making these flights will be, compared to what they are expecting in actual service (yes, I know the jets going into service will be different), and what kind of fuel burn and performance margins they are going to be getting. Going that far means a LOT of gas, and weather happens. Given the fuel they need and the distance they are going, what are their divert criteria. Once upon a time, I believe Tokyo was a potential fuel stop going from the US to SIN (and HKG I believe) for 747s depending on winds.
Should be fun to read about. 🙂
Publicity all the way. As you note, an extra hour of flying versus SIN-NYC is irrelevant. Now if they put the 40 pax in Y, that might be a different story 🙂
Most of the research seems oriented towards the pilots and the institutions conducting it are highly respected. This is a much about the negotiations qantas will have to have with the pilot’s union before they can launch these flights. There was some more detailed coverage in the Aussie papers today that went beyond the press release.
The self-loading cargo will get to to suck it up as usual.
I completely agree. When I saw there were only going to be 40 people on the plane it was obvious this wasn't going to tell them much of anything about passenger experience. Unless they're going to make them all sit in just a couple of Y rows so they're packed in like regular pax
Qantas want a rule change so they only need 4 pilots, not 5
Just send Monash researchers on a regular QF Long haul flight if they want real data. I am pretty sure they would highly recommend more leg room for economy passengers. These Ultra Long Haul flights should not be 31" pitch but rather around 34-37" pitch - oh wait, was that not what we used to call economy pre 1990's?
I reckon it’s more publicity than research but I think they’ll actually be getting some vital research from the operations side of things such as how much fuel they will need/ how much they have left after they land, what tail/ head winds are like, how hungry the passengers are and how much water they will need to carry. Back when they launched Perth to London they had everything from fuel, water and meals filled to the top for the first few weeks so maybe they’re trying to avoid that as that can increase fuel consumption quite drastically especially with it being a longer flight. Does anyone know how many pilots will be needed to operate the flight? I believe Singapore has pilots for Singapore to Newark so maybe this flight will be on the border.
"For example, they talked more about their 787-9s before they took delivery of them ..., than I’ve talked about Air Belgium, and that’s saying a lot."
Sentences like this are the reason I read this blog. Nicely done.
@Ed is correct above. All the prestigious institutions they are using can be bought. The pertinent reason for these flights is to get CASA (the regulator) to make some changes to crewing rules, and those applying to two engined long haul aircraft. Publicity and ‘research’ are just advantageous side effects. If CASA changes its rules, then it will undermine potential union demands.
I also think it’s a way of distracting from their bad FY19 results. It’s a bit of ‘look over here’. Anyway if you want my other thoughts head over here: https://www.2paxfly.com/2019/08/22/news-qantas-sunrise-project-takes-a-leaf-out-of-parents-car-trip-playbook-are-we-there-yet-are-we-there-yet/
@2paxfly - Their bad results? Profit dropped 6% to $A890 million and the share price ended up. It's an airline, it's profit will change and undoubtedly at some point, it'll lose money again.
@ Jake
"I believe Singapore has pilots for Singapore to Newark so maybe this flight will be on the border."
It's reassuring to know they have pilots on board 😉
Flying backwards for 6 hours and flying the wrong way around the world? Sounds like a mental breakdown, heart attack, and PTSD for airline executives. Definitely publicity if you ask me
"Scientists and medical experts will monitor sleep patterns, food and beverage consumption, lighting, physical movement, and inflight entertainment to assess the impact on health, wellbeing, and body clock."
To get more accurate results, they would want to add few babies that never sleeps, fully seated 3-3-3 with few big people, seat in front fully reclines while yours doesn't, and a broken IFE into the control environment. Oh, and don't forget, you will not get your meal choice either.
They won't learn much with 40 people unless they push the testing to the limits.
@raksiam
Just make them all sit in just a couple of Y rows would probably not enough. You gotta put them through the worse stuff for 20 hours.
It's publicity! Don't forget Qantas is celebrating its 100th birthday shortly!
Most Australians don't want non stop services - we want flights from Aussie places other than Sydney to cities other than London or LA! That's why the middle eastern and Asian airlines are so successful on Australian routes.
Qantas is all about premium services from Sydney to London and LA.They don't care about any other route or economy passengers. There economy class is way behind other airlines and Qantas is g3nerally low down on list for most passengers travelling to Europe
Publicity. Plus influence on the way regulatory bodies think to get unions to cave in.
+1 on Sam Chui being invited to film and generate publicity.
@Aniljak - why do you choose to speak on behalf of "most Australians"? How is this determined, a survey of your close mates?
@Hutch
Are you the internet police? How is this determined, a quiz on BuzzFeed?
That was a research flight. It flew with only two cabin crew, 16 passengers, and was basically stripped of all its interiors - it didn't even have galleys. It used a special super high density jet fuel made just for this flight by Shell, and the fuel was so expensive to produce it would never ever be commercially viable. The idea behind that flight was to prove it was possible to fly between the two cities, allowing them to predict that at the current technical advancement rate, it would be possible within a few decades. That flight was never meant to lead to non-stop flights.
@Jaydan
Funny why they want to prove it's possible but never commercially viable.
We went to the moon 50 years ago, so I don't think 10,000 miles would be impossible 20 years after the moon landing.
I'm pretty sure back then was also a publicity stunt and the research stuff is all BS just like the what they are trying to do now for NY.
Maybe it is a good time someone should try to break the old 777-200LR record.
QF have a world-class publicity machine. The news articles will show everyone lounging about having a nice time in J or a few lowly chumps scattered around Y+ with electrodes on their foreheads for the boffins from Monash. You won't see Y.
Neil Perry will most likely be there spouting his latest over-described and under-sized food platings along with shiny AJ and his SJW crew.
@Aaron - They will stop and rest in NYC and London for a couple of days before continuing the journey, do press etc. There is no such thing as wrong way around the world.
@Aniljak is basically correct.
Qantas really only prioritise Blue Riband high-yield single-sector flights.
Their 787-9 configuration tells you everything. Business Class is acceptable but fairly dense, while the Premium Economy and Economy cabins are more cramped than their competitors.
It’s difficult to see why a non-stop London or New York flight would even bother with a Premium Economy cabin, let alone Economy.
In practice I suspect they will go with around 5 rows of Premium Economy and 10 rows of Economy purely to evade accusations of abandoning the general public and of having no Award inventory.
Something like:
84 Business
35 Premium Economy
90 Economy
Both. They'd be doing the research, but of course using this as opportunity to generate publicity.
Umm, I think the existence of your post answers it - even if there is a research component, publicity is generated.....
Will QANTAS even be able to get the right slots at each end especially considering curfews?