Ultra-long-haul flights are here: Once a journey of 2 weeks will shrink to 22 hours

The journey between Sydney and London, which once took two weeks and 40 stops, is set to shrink into a single 22-hour flight. Australian flag-carrier Qantas is preparing to launch the first direct Sydney-London flight, which will also herald the era of ultra-long-haul travel.

In Short

• The historical Kangaroo Route once took two weeks and around 40 stops
• Qantas to use modified Airbus A350-1000; would add fuel capacity, range
• The service starting in 2027 would limit seating to 238 to reduce weight

Hopping, just as a kangaroo would, onto a flight from London to Australia's Sydney would involve dozens of stops and nearly two weeks in the 1930s. The Kangaroo Route required passengers leaving Britain to travel through Eastern Europe, then into the Middle East, then the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia, before reaching Sydney.

The journey took around two weeks and involved nearly 40 stops.

That's a far cry from the 22-hour nonstop flights now set to be introduced between the two cities of the Commonwealth. The current longest non-stop flight is around 19 hours and is operated by Singapore Airlines.

Australian flag-carrier Qantas confirmed plans to launch direct Sydney-London services in October 2027. With this, the aviation industry would enter the era of ultra-long-haul travel, where passengers can fly halfway around the world without changing aircraft, according to reports.

The route is a part of Qantas's ambitious Project Sunrise, a programme designed to connect Australia directly with some of the world's most distant cities, including London and New York.

FROM 40 STOPS TO NONE, ERA OF ULTRA-LONG-HAULS IS HERE

The Sydney-London route, traditionally known as the "Kangaroo Route", has long tried to respond and overcome the challenge of Australia's geographic isolation.

"The objective of solving this tyranny of distance we’ve talked about, that is what Qantas was founded on," Qantas CEO Vanessa Hudson told American news outlet CNN. "That mission you could say has been there ever since".

In 1935, passengers travelling between Australia and Britain had to endure nearly 13 days of travel involving aircraft changes, train journeys and overnight stays. It was as much a leisurely journey as it was travel. By the late 1950s, the journey had been reduced to about 38 hours with eight stops. The arrival of jet aircraft and later the Boeing 747, the legendary 'Queen of the Skies', transformed the Kangaroo Route. It shrunk the journey that once took days into one measured in hours.

A major breakthrough came in 2018 when Qantas launched non-stop flights between Perth and London, reducing travel time to about 17 hours. But Perth sits on Australia's sparsely populated west coast. The country's economic and demographic heartland is the East Coast, where cities such as Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and the national capital, Canberra, are located. It is this region where nearly four in every five Australians live.

So, through Project Sunrise, Qantas aimed to eliminate the final stopover and make Sydney-London a true one-hop journey.

The route would cover roughly 17,000 km and take around 22 hours, making it one of the longest commercial flights ever operated.

So what prevented carriers from flying nonstop between Sydney and London all these years?

HOW DO YOU KEEP A PLANE IN THE AIR FOR 22 HOURS?

The answer is a specially modified version of Airbus's A350-1000 aircraft.

The aircraft ordered by Qantas features additional fuel tanks, a higher maximum take-off weight and aerodynamic improvements that allow it to fly farther than standard versions of the jet.

To make room for fuel and improve passenger comfort, the aircraft would carry only 238 passengers, significantly fewer than the more than 300 seats typically found on a typical A350 configuration, according to news agency Associated Press.

The reduced passenger and luggage load would also help lower onboard weight, extending the aircraft's range.

London is only the beginning. After Sydney–London launches in 2027, Qantas plans to roll out nonstop Sydney–New York services.

BUT, THE BIGGEST CHALLENGE ISN'T THE AIRCRAFT

Keeping a plane airborne for 22 hours is relatively straightforward with modern technology. Keeping passengers comfortable is harder. Qantas has spent years conducting scientific studies on sleep patterns, circadian rhythms, jet lag and passenger wellbeing.

During test flights between New York and Sydney and between London and Sydney, researchers monitored passengers and crew to understand how lighting, meals and movement affect fatigue.

The new aircraft will feature a dedicated "wellness zone" where passengers can stretch, walk and perform light exercises during the flight.

Also, cabin lighting would be adjusted from time to time to help passengers adapt to the time zone of the destination. Meal schedules would be designed to minimise jet lag.

For travellers, there's an appeal. Nobody likes stopovers or missed connections. They definitely love saving hours off total journey times. Similarly, for the airlines, ultra-long-haul routes would be a premium product for passengers willing to pay extra. And, Qantas is unlikely to be the last carrier betting on this new frontier of civil aviation.

Singapore Airlines already operates one of the world's longest flights between Singapore and New York. It lasts around 18-19 hours. Qantas's planned Sydney-London service will push that frontier even further. Indian flag-carrier Air India often operates a Bengaluru-San Francisco route via the Arctic. While it's nearly 14,000 km long, Qantas's planned Sydney-London service would add another 3,000 km to the journey.

A century ago, travelling between Australia and Britain required the patience of an explorer. Soon, it would require little more than a very long nap. The age of ultra-long-haul aviation has arrived.

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