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

[Townsend]

Not the best photo you will see today but it was exciting to see AIB151 off the NBs.

 

[moa999]

Detailed Sunrise announcement now out

https://www.qantasnewsroom.com.au/media-releases/qantas-group-announces-major-aircraft-order-to-shape-its-future/

12 A350 aircraft delivered over 2025-2028.

Also some detail on the 321s (from late 2024) - config will be 20J 180Y which I suspect means no flat J and the 220s (from late 2023) at 10J 127Y

 

[levelnine]

A350:

• Will carry 238 passengers across four classes (First, Business, Premium Economy, Economy), with more than 40 per cent of the cabin dedicated to premium seating. Compares to more than 300 seats on competitor airlines.

40% to premium implies the economy cabin will still be quite large. Those will be some long flights in whY.

 

[kpc]

Detailed Sunrise announcement now out

https://www.qantasnewsroom.com.au/media-releases/qantas-group-announces-major-aircraft-order-to-shape-its-future/

12 A350 aircraft delivered over 2025-2028.

Also some detail on the 321s (from late 2024) - config will be 20J 180Y which I suspect means no flat J and the 220s (from late 2023) at 10J 127Y

So from late 2025 before we can fly non stop from Sydney to London / New York?!...3.5 years is plenty of time for another pandemic or two...

 

[serfty]

First rendering

 

[Batterytraveller]

Does Qantas still have 737-MAX orders?

20 Business clss seats on the A321 is interesting. 8 more than on capital routes today - must be planning for new ways to monetise upgrades, or maybe they already can see how much demand there is. I rarely see an empty BC seat SYD-MEL on a 737 these days.

 

[levelnine]

First rendering

A full bed is quite the step up for QF. I guess First is not yet dead!

Post automatically merged: May 2, 2022

 

[NSun]

It appears, according to their media material, there'll be a middle seat. If so, I wonder if they'll have "virtual windows" like Emirates does in their newest F suites.

 

[serfty]

Video of First - Download link from Qantas:

Qantas Airbus media assets

Shared with Dropbox

www.dropbox.com

 

[moa999]

Does Qantas still have 737-MAX orders?

Never did.
The 321/220 combo won the competition.

20 Business clss seats on the A321 is interesting. 8 more than on capital roots today

Agreed. I'd been expecting at least some aircraft to come with flat J with something closer to 12J / 168Y.

 

[Batterytraveller]

Never did.
The 321/220 combo won the competition.

I must have misremembered. It's a good call in any case, both these aircraft have wider seats in Y than the 737.

 

[Bundy Bear]

Trying to work out where Qantas would use the A321s.
Likely overseas, NZ, Singapore,

Would the A350s go to LA first then go JFK

 

[levelnine]

Trying to work out where Qantas would use the A321s.

They're replacing the 737s, so everywhere they go and a few further places. From the press release:

• Qantas’ A321XLR is five metres longer than the outgoing 737s and will be configured to seat 200 people (20 business, 180 economy) – a 15 per cent increase with no reduction in space between seats. It can fly approximately 3,000km further than the 737 (at 8,700km) and opens up a wider range of direct domestic and short haul international routes (e.g. South East Asia, Pacific islands).

 

[MrJetset]

Odd design. The colour palette is beautiful but the permanent bed, to me, is wasted space and makes the experience very cramped and the seating area very narrow.

 

[Lynda2475]

Would the A350s go to LA first then go JFK

Why? The whole point is to by-pass the horror that is LAX and go direct to JFK.

Already plenty of flights to LAX.

 

[Batterytraveller]

Odd design. The colour palette is beautiful but the permanent bed, to me, is wasted space and makes the experience very cramped and the seating area very narrow.

It possibly doesn't look like it from the render, but it would be good if the seat went flat and became an XWB (xtra wide bed)

 

[justinbrett]

Why? The whole point is to by-pass the horror that is LAX and go direct to JFK.

Already plenty of flights to LAX.

I think OP meant in the interim prior to launching the new routes - in order to "bed in" the new aircraft.

And yes, I'd say that's likely. They'll need to wait until they get at least 4 aircraft or so before launching any of the new routes.

 

[moa999]

Trying to work out where Qantas would use the A321s.
Likely overseas, NZ, Singapore,

They produced a nice map (link now gone from press release)

https://www.qantasnewsroom.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/Airbus-A321-XLR_Range-Map.pdf

Also for the 220.

https://www.qantasnewsroom.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/Airbus-A220-200_Range-Map.pdf

 

[sostopher]

Looks pretty decent. Will be great to not have to use the 737s for international anymore. Still a little worried about the Y experience. Despite saying "fewer seats" it doesn't mean much if the seats they do have are cramped into a woeful 3-3-3 layout.

 

[Kendall Roy]

Looks pretty decent. Will be great to not have to use the 737s for international anymore. Still a little worried about the Y experience. Despite saying "fewer seats" it doesn't mean much if the seats they do have are cramped into a woeful 3-3-3 layout.

3-3-3 rules out me from ever doing WhY in a ULH!

I'm surprised they couldn't make 2-4-2 work, even with the premium charged!