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Qantas has marked 90 years of international flying this month as it awaits its new “Project Sunrise” aircraft late next year.
Australia’s first international passenger flight left Brisbane for Singapore on 17 April 1935 on a DH86 aircraft, carrying only two passengers on the three-and-a-half-day journey. According to Qantas, more than 273 million customers have since flown across its international network.
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“Our first international flight took over three days to reach Singapore from Brisbane, carrying just a few passengers and making more than 15 stops,” Cam Wallace, chief executive of Qantas International, said.
“Fast forward to today and we’re flying thousands of passengers daily on nonstop services between Australia to Singapore and over 7.6 million customers travelled on our broader international network in 2024 – a powerful reflection of how far international travel has come.
“We’re incredibly proud of our history, but equally excited about what’s ahead. This year will see more growth across the Qantas international network, with the launch of flights from Melbourne to Honolulu next month and Sydney to Sapporo later in the year.
“We also look forward to the arrival of our new A350 aircraft, which will reshape what’s possible in ultra-long-haul travel with the introduction of our Project Sunrise non-stop flights from Sydney to London and New York.”
Qantas earlier this month also hailed the 60th anniversary of its first jet services across the Tasman, flown by the Boeing 707 “V-jet” VH-EBL from Sydney to Christchurch on 10 April 1965.
The Flying Kangaroo was the first non-US airline in the world to take delivery of the 707 in 1959, and flew its inaugural jet service from Sydney to San Francisco via Nadi and Honolulu on 29 July of that year.
Project Sunrise, Qantas’ ambitious plan to fly specially-modified A350-1000s from the Australian east coast to London and New York, is set to launch in 2027.
Speaking to media in Hamburg last month, Vanessa Hudson, chief executive of Qantas, confirmed that the Airbus planes, which will have extra fuel tanks to give them the range to reach London and New York from Australia’s east coast without refuelling, would arrive “at the end of 2026”.
The Project Sunrise aircraft were meant for delivery starting at the end of this year before being last year pushed back to mid-2026 due to Airbus “manufacturing delays”.
