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Qantas Wants to Fly Nonstop From Sydney to London and New York by 2022

Brian Sumers

Photo Credit: Qantas is using a new Boeing 787-9 for its Perth-London flights, which begin next year. But the aircraft cannot fly to Sydney nonstop, so Qantas is looking for an airplane that can. Qantas

Skift Take

There have been so many advances in aviation in the past couple of decades that there are almost no routes between major world cities a modern airliner cannot fly. Sydney to New York and London are two of those routes. But perhaps not for long.

Qantas has challenged Airbus and Boeing to accomplish something that's never been done: Deliver an aircraft capable of flying nonstop from Sydney, Brisbane, and Melbourne to New York and London filled with passengers and cargo. If one of the manufacturers can meet the airline's demands, as should be possible, Qantas could start new ultra long-haul routes by 2022. In an announcement made Friday in Australia, Qantas estimated flights from Sydney — its biggest hub — would take roughly 20 hours and 20 minutes to London and a little more than 18 hours to New York. These Australia routes are a rarity in modern aviation. A couple of decades ago, it was impossible

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