Qantas Project Sunrise goes ahead, 12 new A350-1000s ordered

[elanshin]

Found this:

Lufthansa reveals new First Class Suite with double bed, Business Class with doors

Star Alliance carrier Lufthansa has revealed its new First Class, including a double bed, plus a Business Class cabin with seven seating options, direct aisle access, and closing privacy doors.

mainlymiles.com

QF look a bit cheap beside this.

Honestly when they unveiled the first class it felt a little cheap compared to other top end flagships. Don't get me wrong, there's nothing wrong with a bed in the sky but given this is meant to be the flagship product it doesn't invoke the same "dream goal" SQ, EK, QR does with their first class offerings and marketing.

 

[jakeseven7]

The A220s (along with A321s) are replacing the oldest 737s as well as 717s (I dont think they will replace the F100s however). The E190s will likely be a stop gap until the full fleet of A220s arrives. Rumours are that the 717s will be retired early and replaced by the E190s

Thanks, as much as I love the A220 and E190, I will be very sad to see the 717 go.

737 could care less to see that exit, will line up to give the last one a kick out the door

 

[kpro]

More pictures of the new A350 First, including some of an actual prototype seat have appeared on Executive Traveller.

Up close with Qantas’ luxurious new A350 first class suites

Join Executive Traveller as we take a detailed look at the next generation of Qantas first class.

www.executivetraveller.com

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Strange huh? The designed says the chair goes ‘almost’ flat.

Why not make it go that tiny bit more and be flat? Then you could have a truly flexible space and a double bed if you wanted.

Much like first generation angled beds… if the ends raised by just a couple inches they would have actually been ok to sleep on!

 

[PineappleSkip]

Forgive me, I’ve been ignoring the hype about seats but QF sent another email with a lead story about their fleet upgrade and a link to this spiel.

The hype about the A350’s range had my eyebrows go up.

Developed as part of Project Sunrise, it will enable non-stop flying from Australia to almost anywhere in the world, including from Sydney to New York.

No mention of non stop SYD-LHR, which IIRC was the goal of sunrise. Has this been quietly dropped amidst the seat hype?

Cheers skip

 

[Lynda2475]

No mention of non stop SYD-LHR, which IIRC was the goal of sunrise. Has this been quietly dropped amidst the seat hype?

No I believe SYD-LHR and SYD-JFK are the first two destinations.

I'd expect SYD-JFK to go first, because they will eliminate the current SYD-AKL_JFK. Whereas SYD-LHR will be in addition to SYD-SIN-LHR.

 

[Flying Fox]

No I believe SYD-LHR and SYD-JFK are the first two destinations.

I'd expect SYD-JFK to go first, because they will eliminate the current SYD-AKL_JFK. Whereas SYD-LHR will be in addition to SYD-SIN-LHR.

Does QF sell AKL-JFK as a sector? I thought that they did this to battle against NZ.

 

[AIRwin]

Does QF sell AKL-JFK as a sector? I thought that they so this to battle against NZ.

It's 5th freedom:

A Complete, Updated List of Fifth-Freedom Routes

https://www.australianfrequentflyer.com.au/community/threads/qantas-to-launch-syd-akl-jfk-june-2023-akl-lounge-to-become-a-premium-lounge.105950/

www.australianfrequentflyer.com.au

 

[kpro]

Forgive me, I’ve been ignoring the hype about seats but QF sent another email with a lead story about their fleet upgrade and a link to this spiel.

The hype about the A350’s range had my eyebrows go up.

No mention of non stop SYD-LHR, which IIRC was the goal of sunrise. Has this been quietly dropped amidst the seat hype?

If you click the link on that page to "Discover Project Sunrise", the subsequent page states "The inaugural flights are scheduled for take-off in late 2025, starting with Sydney to London and New York."

 

[Lost Redditor]

Wonder when we'll see J or F rewards seats for the SYD-LHR. I'd jump on it just for the experience, even though 20 hours on a plan sounds insane

 

[mviy]

There will be less F seats so it will be interesting to see what the reward seat release is like. Though there will also be more routes with F seats.

 

[Spacetravel]

There will be less F seats so it will be interesting to see what the reward seat release is like. Though there will also be more routes with F seats.

I suspect very restricted initially while these flights are a "novelty" and "high demand" once demand rolls off a bit - if it does, then we might start to see the occasional seat pop up. Knowing QF thought I imagine these to be vary sparse and mostly only show up during points planes or the headline CR releases.

With that said, like many AFFers (and probably non AFFers) I certainly want to nab a F SYD - LHR or JFK CR at some point. With the flight being that long its basically a hotel stay.

 

[sqrt()]

I suspect very restricted initially while these flights are a "novelty" and "high demand" once demand rolls off a bit - if it does, then we might start to see the occasional seat pop up. Knowing QF thought I imagine these to be vary sparse and mostly only show up during points planes or the headline CR releases.

With that said, like many AFFers (and probably non AFFers) I certainly want to nab a F SYD - LHR or JFK CR at some point. With the flight being that long its basically a hotel stay.

Hotel stay or prison stay?

 

[JessicaTam]

Hotel stay or prison stay?

Having done LHR-PER in Y, definitely the latter.

 

[PineappleSkip]

With the flight being that long its basically a hotel stay.

The last time I spent 20 hours in a hotel room I was in quarantine! And apart from that, a two m2 hotel room would be more like an oubliette…

Cheers skip

 

[jakeseven7]

Wonder when we'll see J or F rewards seats for the SYD-LHR. I'd jump on it just for the experience, even though 20 hours on a plan sounds insane

I do 17/18 hour flights regularly. (In J) . Another 2 hours meh, easy. Especially when I sleep for half of that.

 

[Lynda2475]

Having done LHR-PER in Y and survived fine, SYD-LHR in J or F would be a cake walk, another 2 hours sleep.

 

[cove]

You were very brave @JessicaTam. I remember you doing that.
One of my sons flys on the midnight horror to go to sport events on the east coast and then comes home.
We don’t even do 6 am flights unless everything else is gone.
We spent about 4 hours on the jet that runs to London direct and that one is no thanks even in business class.

 

[jpp42]

Heard a rumour that Project Sunrise is in trouble due to the modifications required for the extra fuel tank - 700 kg of Kevlar shielding needs to be added to meet fire certification requirements. Apparently the issue is that in case of hard landing, the landing gear could collapse and pierce the auxiliary tank, leading to a high chance of fuel leakage and fire, without this shielding. The extra 700kg reduces useful payload and the shielding can't be removed, reducing future resale value of the airframes.

My source also said the airline is establishing handling agent contracts in Frankfurt as the SYD-LHR flights are expected to divert there frequently ...

 

[sqrt()]

Heard a rumour that Project Sunrise is in trouble due to the modifications required for the extra fuel tank - 700 kg of Kevlar shielding needs to be added to meet fire certification requirements. Apparently the issue is that in case of hard landing, the landing gear could collapse and pierce the auxiliary tank, leading to a high chance of fuel leakage and fire, without this shielding. The extra 700kg reduces useful payload and the shielding can't be removed, reducing future resale value of the airframes.

My source also said the airline is establishing handling agent contracts in Frankfurt as the SYD-LHR flights are expected to divert there frequently ...

Loving the idea of $20k J return fares which are a LHR/FRA lucky dip.