World’s Longest Flights Put on Hold as Virus Upends Plans

(Bloomberg) -- Qantas Airways Ltd.'s plan to start record-breaking commercial flights half-way around the world is on hold because of the coronavirus crisis.

“There is huge potential for Project Sunrise but the time is not right now given the impact Covid-19 has had on world travel,” Chief Executive Officer Alan Joyce said on a call with reporters Tuesday, referring to the plan to introduce direct services connecting Sydney with London and New York.

Qantas had planned to start the ultra-long-haul services in 2023 and was well into its preparations. It ran test flights from New York and London to Sydney last year, turning the aircraft into a flying laboratory. Qantas had picked Airbus SE's A350-1000 to fly the routes and planned to buy as many as 12.

“We're obviously talking to Airbus about the 350s,” Joyce said in an interview with Bloomberg Television on Tuesday morning. “While we are in a recovery phase of Covid-19 it's not appropriate for us to put an order in for that large number of aircraft and the capital expenditure that that would entail.”

Joyce described Project Sunrise as “a longer-term opportunity,” once Qantas has enough capital to commit to more planes and there's a recovery from the virus.

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