Buried in the news about a beautiful new first class product and a massive fleet renewal is that Qantas will actually make economy class a much more bearable product onboard its new Airbus A350 “Project Sunrise” fleet.
Qantas A350 “Project Sunrise” Will Have Excellent Legroom Even In Economy Class
Earlier today Qantas unveiled a new order with Airbus that includes 12 Airbus A350-1000s it plans to use in order to make its long-awaited “Project Sunrise” flights a reality. Project Sunrise is the code name for Qantas’ plan to launch ultra-longhaul service from Sydney and Melbourne to key destinations around the globe currently not reachable nonstop. That includes:
- Chicago
- Frankfurt
- London
- New York
- Paris
- Sao Paulo / Rio de Janeiro
Key facts about the new aircraft:
- The Qantas A350-1000 will have the range for direct flights between Australia and any city in the world
- It will utilize Rolls-Royce Trent XWB-97 turbofan engines
- Only 238 seats across four classes (First, Business, Premium Economy, Economy), will be offered onboard, with more than 40% of the cabin dedicated to premium seating
- Most competitors squeeze more than 300 seats on their A350s
- A new first class product will be introduced, with a total of six suites
- Standard economy legroom will be 33 inches
19+ hours is a long time in the air and I suppose it is a given that economy class will have to be tolerable given this aircraft will operate ultra-longhaul flights.
Even so, I am impressed that standard economy class legroom will be 33 inches on the Qantas A350-1000. While an ultra-longhaul economy class journey will still be quite taxing in an upright seat, even with 33 inches of legroom, at least you knees will not be banging against the seat in front of you. In fact, I’d say a comfortable economy class product would be a great reason to choose a nonstop flight over connecting flight with only 31 inches of legroom, even though I ordinarily prefer breaking up a very long trip.
CONCLUSION
Size matters when it comes to seat pitch and those extra few inches can make all the difference in the world. Qantas has ordered 12 new A350-1000s it plans to use on its ultra-longhaul routes and those aircraft will feature a generous 33 inches of legroom standard in economy class. While premium cabins are always preferred, this at least will likely make the product much more bearable.
image: Qantas
I also prefer breaking up longer trips,and have no plans to visit Australia in the near future, but I am oddly attracted to the idea of taking a direct flight from Australia to GRU- probably because I once did a fifth freedom leg from SYD to AKL on AR (Aerolíneas Argentinas).
15 hours is my limit in any class of service. Anything more than that and I truly start to lose it. Dry air, limited stretching, it’s just not an option for me when I can opt to break it up with a few hours or even a night somewhere. Perhaps the Aussies will appreciate these non-stops given their years of dealing with stops in SIN, BKK, DXB, etc. but for me it looks like misery.
I wouldn’t want to do it frequently, and certainly not in economy, but as an one off it may be an interesting experience with a good book. I don’t think I have been on anything longer than EZE-FRA, is that about 13.5 hours?
Qantas may be promising 33 inches of leg room but bear in mind that their 789s only have 31 and they fly sectors of 16-17 hours at the moment.
Equally, it doesn’t seem so long ago that 34 inches was normal in economy and now less is something to be pleased about!
How is 33” pitch news, I’m pretty sure KE and EK has been offering 33-34” on regular economy for a while now.
I think this needed to have been like the SQ A350 where the minimum is premium economy.
I’ve heard that demand is tepid for premium economy and there is some consideration to bringing back economy class. We’ll see.
Hmm. Just last week I read that they’re gonna continue EWR and JFK A350 ULR routes especially that Singapore is pretty much open now.
You are correct.
I really like the idea of offering a bit more room on aircraft designed to go long distances. I hope the idea catches on. Just sell it to the airlines as a form of “capacity discipline.”
It’s a state statement about how bad economy has become that 33″ pitch is celebrated as exceptionally generous.
I believe JAL has 34″ pitch in economy in their 787.
Why stop with London and New York?
Looking forward to direct Sydney to Ponta Delgada, just 22 hours in the air.
First, Business or PE or Economy, ULR flights are just too long for me. Airlines keep talking about pushing plane technology to extend the range limit, but any meaningful studies being done on the humans.
All the studies I have read are funded by the airlines with the objective to justify the ULR.
Do you find LAX/SFO-SIN too long? In my case, I have good flights and bad flights in that sometimes I get a remarkable amount of sleep sandwiched by two meals but sometimes I am awake and bored stiff.
Hmm… Direct flights between Sydney and London fly through Russian airspace?…. Does this mean they’re hedging their bets on the Ukraine crisis and sanctions being over by then? Maybe Perth as a hub to other destinations in Europe is a safer bet?
That’s a very good point. We’ll have to see.
The 350=1000 is not the only aircraft that can fly direct to any city in the world. There are several others that can do it.
Not commercially there are not. Don’t be silly.
The extra width of the A350 was also good to force qantas to offer a dignified Y seat width. Compare that to their diabolical 3-3-3 789 on the perth-london runs, whereas JAL offers 2-4-2 and 34″ pitch as standard on 787s.
Alas, ANA went the way of everyone else in that regard years ago.
A 33″ seat pitch sets the standard? I was just looking at several aircraft flown by JAL (777-300 ER is one example) and Asiana that have 33-34 inch seat pitches in plain vanilla economy. This “standard” is no big deal at all.
33″ is not awesome dude. It’s pretty lame for a 20 hour “premium flight”
You may be ok with budget class economy as your norm, but 31″ on a legacy carrier is the absolute cheapest of the cheap seats.
Please don’t be a corporate tool and ra-ra 33″ – nothing to crow about.