Up and over to down under: Qantas plan Sydney to London non-stop via the North Pole

When the first nonstop passenger flights between London and Sydney begin early in 2027, the aircraft could fly over the North Pole.

The most direct route on the 10,573-mile link, known as “Project Sunrise,” passes over Russia. The “great circle” journey indicates about four hours’ flying time in Russian airspace between the Latvian and the Kazakh frontiers.

The airspace above the world’s biggest country is currently closed to “Western” aircraft including British Airways, Singapore Airlines and Qantas.

But Vanessa Hudson, chief executive of the Australian airline, told The Independent that being unable to fly over Russia would not pose a problem to the flights.

“Geopolitics is a part of any operational consideration, but these aircraft won't need to fly over Russia to be able to make the distance,” she said.

“The really unique thing about this flight is that at some times of the year, the fastest way to get from Sydney to London will be over Japan and over the North Pole and down the other side because of the wind direction.

“Our pilots are doing lots of flight planning for that flight. They've got over 12 months' worth of wind data and are doing lots of flight-planning simulations.

“Don't just assume that you have to fly west [from Sydney to London] all the time – there will be other routes that we can take.”

Ms Hudson, who took over as CEO at Qantas from Alan Joyce 18 months ago, said the first ultra-long-haul Airbus A350 will “enter the production cycle in September this year”.

The specially designed plane is due for delivery in late 2026 and should enter service “very early in 2027,” Ms Hudson said. Initially it will connect Sydney nonstop with either London Heathrow or New York JFK. No decision has yet been made about which city, but London has always been the flagship route for Qantas.

New York is under 10,000 miles from Sydney, with the flightpath mainly over the Pacific; the direct track clips a corner of Mexico but is then entirely over the US.

The Qantas chief executive said research is going on about how to minimise the effects of a flight estimated to take up to 19 hours.

“Project Sunrise is a four-cabin aircraft, so it's first class, business class, premium economy, and economy. This gives us the ability to redefine the next cabin experience for all of those.

“We've got Charles Perkins University working with us, looking at how to manage jet lag, how to eat, when to sleep, when to move.

“We’re going to be building that into an integral part of the in-flight experience.”

Ms Hudson predicted passengers will pay a 20 per cent premium on London-Sydney tickets for the privilege of cutting out the refuelling stop.

A ticket for a round-trip on Qantas flights QF2 and QF1 from London via Singapore to Sydney departing tomorrow costs £1,463. A 20 per cent increase would take that to £1,755 – over £300 more.

“There are absolutely customers who say, 'I value getting there in one stop, I value point to point, I value the premium experience, and I'm prepared to pay for that.”

Two Qantas flights to Heathrow on Friday morning diverted to Paris CDG when the UK’s busiest airport closed down for the day. Ms Hudson revealed that passengers arriving from Sydney and Perth were put on coaches to complete the journey to London.

Listen to Simon Calder’s daily travel podcast featuring Qantas CEO Vanessa Hudson