What will Qantas charge for direct flights to London, NY?
There’ll be a 20% premium on those marathon Project Sunrise flights
By David Flynn, July 24 2024
Should all go according to plan, direct flights from Sydney to London and New York will be taking off in a little over two years’ time, after Qantas takes delivery of the first Project Sunrise A350-1000ULR jets from Airbus.
Non-stop Melbourne-London and Melbourne-New York marathons will follow as more of the globe-striding jets arrive.
They’ll carry and cosset passengers for 20+ hours in the all-new first class and business class suites, although those with less cash to splash will make do with premium economy and economy recliners.
But whether you’re snug in 1A or sitting further down the back of the (Air)bus, how much will it cost to skip the stopover and make the trip to (or from) London or New York in a single if l-o-n-g leap?
Qantas International CEO Cam Wallace expects to levy “a 20% premium” for every seat on the new non-stop flights compared to today’s stopover routes: a markup based on “current modelling” at Roo HQ.
Using current fares for early May 2025 as the baseline, Executive Traveller estimates this could see Project Sunrise tickets topping out at around $15,000 one-way to New York in Qantas’ private A350 first class suite, with London landing several thousand dollars lower.
Qantas' all-new A350 first class for non-stop flights to London and New York.
Wallace readily admits “we haven’t worked through” the final price of Project Sunrise first class fares, they will “be certainly a premium to what we currently have.”
But he’s confident passengers will pony up, based on similar premiums applied to the lengthy Perth-London, Melbourne-Dallas and Sydney-Auckland-New York flights, which he describes as ‘Sunrise Lite’.
“That’s been a premium that our customers have been willing to pay,” he reflects, adding that the airline’s “load factor, yields and returns (have) been really, really excellent” for Perth-London, with the expectation Perth-Paris will be perform likewise.
Qantas' all-new A350 business class for non-stop flights to London and New York.
But Wallace isn’t taking anything for granted, and especially not as airfares normalise after an extended post-pandemic spike
“Obviously after Covid there was that pent-up demand which washed through the system… we didn’t really have seasonality and we didn’t have a lot of tactical pricing.”
“But you’ve seen now more tactical pricing (and) more offers in the market, and seasonality coming back. So irrespective of the proposition, we'll have to be competitive.”
If you’d rather pay for your Project Sunrise flight with points, they’ll fall within the same range as current Qantas flights to New York (via Auckland) and London (via Perth or Singapore).
That means a Classic Flight Reward seat will cost 216,900 Qantas Points if you can snare one of the A350’s six first class suites, with 144,600 Qantas Points for a business class berth or 108,400 Qantas Points in premium economy.
Classic Plus seats will also be available of course, but the number of points required will be geared to match the going cash price for tickets.
08 May 2020
Total posts 51
Will the new Sydney flights fly from WSI? That would be a big win if it means good connection times from other domestic airports. Not interested in these flights if it means changing at SYD
31 Mar 2014
Total posts 397
Absolutely no chance of these flights departing from Western Sydney.
Virgin Blue - Velocity Rewards
12 May 2011
Total posts 23
You make an interesting point. If SYD becomes the "terminator" airport and WSI is the hub airport, it could make sense operationally. Although one would think that SYD would have made a decision on how they are going to restructure operations (QF/OW and friends terminal, and Others terminal) which would make that point moot
Singapore Airlines - KrisFlyer
17 Oct 2014
Total posts 13
If flights were to depart from WSI,QF wouldn’t be able to charge a premium for passengers departing WSI as they live to far from WSI.
Take me-I live at Turramurra,20km from SYD,but 45km from WSI.The travelling time is double.
Qantas
22 Oct 2012
Total posts 318
I wouldn't pay 20% more to arrive maybe an hour or two earlier.
28 May 2020
Total posts 11
I fully agree, but it's also skipping the headache of transiting through SIN, PER, or LAX, so I think many will pay for that.
03 Nov 2023
Total posts 8
You probably also need to factor in the time that is spent 'not relaxing' such returning seat to upright, approach, landing and taxiing at Singapore, deplaning, and then after stopover time, extra security check, waiting in boarding pen, boarding, taking off again until seatbelts sign is off.
I wouldn't necessarily pay an extra 20% either but there probably are a lot who would.
03 Mar 2023
Total posts 37
Me neither. A nice transit via Hong Kong or even Doha will always suit me better. I actually prefer to get off the plane and stretch my legs for an hour or two.
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
12 Jul 2017
Total posts 3
Believe title should be "charge" (not "change")
UA *Gold Lifetime
18 Dec 2015
Total posts 11
I feel I would choose non stop (in J or F) over a stop in Singapore or Lax but I’m not sure I’d be willing to pay 20% premium..? Esp (assuming), down the track the hard product is going to be same/similar ? It’s not Concorde type time saving difference, just more convenient and a unique Qantas offering that would have me choose it over SQ/UA/EK
I just did my first QR trip in J and I WOULD pay a premium for that level of business class offering (regardless of journey time taken). Far superior hard and soft product, friendly crew and high quality everything.
Just my opinion on value based decision making.
03 May 2013
Total posts 684
Totally agree. It's actually embarrassing getting back on a QF J flight after having flown QR J. QF is really going to have to lift their game; people shouldn't have to pay a 20% premium just for time saving-catering, crew training, grooming and general soft product need lot's of work from where it is today.
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
02 Aug 2017
Total posts 15
How about this for a deal, QF. If the cabin actually looks remotely like your concept images, and the service is similar to what you suggest it will be, I will cough up the 20% extra. But I have my doubts that this will be the case, courtesy of a series of "enhancements" to the finished product.
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
17 May 2015
Total posts 80
Not only would I not pay a premium for the direct flights, I would more likely pay a premium for a Singapore stopover. I transferred through Singapore earlier this week and once again it was an absolute pleasure. 20+ hours on an aircraft is simply too long.
Additionally, the point that doesn't get made enough is that these direct flights are completely pointless for anyone whose itinerary doesn't commence In Syd/Melb (eg, anyone living in Qld/Tas/SA) or whose final destination isn't London/New York.
03 Mar 2023
Total posts 37
Correct. As a Brisbane resident I would rather a Hong Kong or Doha or Singapore stopover than have to go to Sydney or Perth.
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
17 Oct 2014
Total posts 5
You'll still be able to from the sound of it.
Virgin Australia - Velocity Rewards
09 Aug 2016
Total posts 38
I'm sure this will be amazing in F or J, but honestly - that long on a plane in Y or even PE, just sounds hellish.
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
27 Nov 2017
Total posts 25
People are already paying a premium. PER-LHR is more expensive than QR, EK, SQ transit options yet is always full in premium cabins. When time is king and delayed flights / missed connections can have a knock-on effect to someone's schedule, direct point-to-point is a huge win.
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
09 Jun 2017
Total posts 77
Don’t be fooled people. There is just one reason for Project Sunrise and that is increased profit for Qantas. getting people from A to B at a lower cost. The new planes are cheaper to run. There wont be the huge cost of a mid flight stop, removes landing fees, terminal fees, people, lounges etc. No crew changeover. Food and drink sourced at either end, not from another party at a higher cost at the stopover.
And they want to charge more!
I have done Melbourne, Singapore, New York (the Singapore, New York let is very long) for just one reason. The cost was considerably less at those times than via the US West Coast. QF should follow that type of model if they have any consideration of the customer but it’s not how they think. Profit backed by PR fluff.
27 Mar 2019
Total posts 54
True, but there is the additional cost of fuel - they'll burn a lot of fuel just carrying the extra fuel for the non-stop flight, is there is an increased cost there, at least.
03 Mar 2023
Total posts 37
Hmmm... but Qantas already is a premium price over other airlines, especially for business class. So to be clear they're saying they will be even MORE a premium for the non-stop flights. I'll stick with Finnair, Cathay, Qatar.
08 Feb 2018
Total posts 165
20% more on top of the 20% more they already charge for 20% less.
I’ll happily keep transiting in HND, SIN, BKK etc.
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
05 Oct 2016
Total posts 117
Lol exactly my thoughts. They're already normally more expensive and now supposedly going to add 20%... No thanks. I actually have no issues whatsoever with the direct flights but I'd never choose to pay more - only when they're the same price as a transit...
14 Jan 2019
Total posts 24
Tell him he is dreaming, I would rather a stop and a shower and pay extra 20% for that
Etihad - Etihad Guest
04 Jun 2019
Total posts 2
I would consider the ardour of ultra long haul if it were cheaper, not more expensive . And. Would have to be BC to be palatable
01 Dec 2011
Total posts 34
I'm now thinking of having 2 or 3 nights stopover on my next trip to Europe. I don't want to fly for 20+ hours, especially if it's so much dearer.
03 Mar 2023
Total posts 37
I do this all the time. I usually stopover in Hong Kong as I love the city. A night or two there is amazing. I even enjoyed a night in Doha on a recent return from Europe. So cheap and quite luxurious actually.
29 Jan 2012
Total posts 184
From reading the above feedback, the No's seem to have it.
QF is losing focus. Yes Gov and Corp a/c's may sign off on the 20% premium, general travelers will not. QF will unfortunately and may already be on the way out as there is now too much quality competition out there for them to survive in their current shape - QF's glory days in the 70's and 80's are long gone!
28 Apr 2021
Total posts 32
A collection of carefully presented comments in relation to what will be the extra price to pay for the privilege to fly non stop on a 20+ hours flight.
Even before the flying of Concorde ceased, there was a significant downturn in the Passenger numbers and we having taken a London to Washington flight, it was noted the cabin was half full with a similar situation was occurring with other L-D flights.
The Joyce dream of Project Sunrise being a success over time well could become an embarrassment for Qantas as the shine will wear off visits in particular to the UK and the Olympic Games held in Paris will soon become a distant memory.
Goodness only knows about what the fast gathering 'war mongering issues' that are going on the middle East might bring and could well change the complexity of the direct flight activities?.
The new administration in Mascot need to be very mindful that Qantas is no longer the 'Top Dog' (now languishing in spot 24) and realize there are a number of leading carriers who 'Tick all the Boxes' and are fast gaining patronage from once loyal QF Passengers and even the mum's and dad's with the kids who want value and service for the money spent to travel.
Are Qantas really focused on lifting the bar in many badly needed areas, instead of all the 'banter' about where all the new destinations will be when new 'L-D" aircraft eventually are in service.
Other carriers such as Air NZ,SQ, and even Fiji Airways are having a big bite of the travel business needs close to home.
Questions, questions about our National Flag carrier and so many need to be answered.
Qantas
19 Apr 2012
Total posts 1429
There are already non stop flights from Perth so those fares will be a base with a bit more to cover the extra couple of hours.
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
06 Mar 2020
Total posts 8
I think if it is no more than 20% premium then there will be plenty of demand
I would certainly pay that for non stop and on less airport to navigate.
11 May 2020
Total posts 15
If these flights were 20% cheaper than going via Singapore or Dubai, I'd go through Singapore or Dubai 7 days a week. Absolute lunacy to spend 20+ hours on a plane by choice. You're going that far anyway, why pay more and suffer more for an extra hour or 2 on the ground... it makes zero sense...
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