Qantas has announced London as the first destination for the world’s longest non-stop ‌commercial flight, which will launch its new Airbus A350-1000ULR jets.

The journey from Sydney will take roughly 20 hours, eliminating a stopover on the existing “Kangaroo Route” and saving passengers four hours.

The Aussie carrier’s first flight will take off in October 2027, with tickets going on sale in February, ‌CEO Vanessa Hudson has revealed at an event in Toulouse, France.

Hudson unveiled one of the modified Airbus jets, fresh from the paint shop and yet to have its Rolls-Royce XWB-97 engines installed.

“The tyranny of distance has finally been conquered,” she said.

“This is a moment Qantas has been working towards since the day we were founded.

“Australia’s distance from the rest of the world should never stand in the way.”

The flights are part of the airline’s “Project Sunrise” initiative, which will also serve New York.

Qantas will use modified Airbus A350-1000ULR jets fitted with an extra 20,000-litre fuel tank that will enable them to fly more than 16,000 kilometres for up to 22 hours non-stop.

Each aircraft will have 238 seats across four cabins — first class, business, premium economy and economy.

The announcement is part of a fleet overhaul that began in 2017 when Qantas challenged Airbus and Boeing to develop planes capable of ultra-long-haul non-stop routes from Australia.

Qantas named Project Sunrise after its double sunrise endurance flights during World War II. They stayed in the air long enough to see two sunrises.

The aim is ‌to cut what was ‌once a five-day trek on ⁠the “Kangaroo Route” to London to a single hop of 19-21 hours, depending on routing and winds.

Qantas ​will use polar routes about a quarter of the time, especially during the northern hemisphere winter.

The trip currently takes 24-25 hours via Singapore.

It is a major gamble for Qantas, involving billions of dollars in aircraft, cabin upgrades and research into passenger health on ultra-long flights.

To succeed, it must convince travellers to pay more to avoid layovers, while minimising the discomfort from long flights.

Qantas has participated in academic research on jet lag, exercise, hydration, lighting and meal times, Hudson said.

“What they are selling is time, and they absolutely need to get a premium on all ⁠the cabins, particularly business and premium economy,” aviation analyst John Strickland said.

Hudson said Qantas hoped ‌to replicate the roughly ​20 per cent premium it had achieved across all four cabins on Perth-London flights versus one-stop routes.

Qantas has temporarily rerouted the Perth-London service via Singapore because of the disruption in the Middle East airspace.

“We will ​return our network ‌to where it was prior to the war when things settle down,” Hudson said, without giving a timeframe.

Qantas has estimated Project Sunrise could add more than $400 million a ​year to earnings.

Jefferies analysts have said they expect a positive market for Project Sunrise flights to London.

Gulf carriers such as Emirates, which redrew the aviation map around their hubs, are expected to defend their market share.

Australia on Wednesday lifted a months-long “do not travel” warning on Gulf hubs that had invalidated most travel insurance policies even for ​transit ​passengers.

Airbus won the Project Sunrise order in 2019 after an intense battle ​with Boeing’s 777X.

Earlier this month, Airbus made the first test flight for one of ‌12 modified A350-1000ULR planes ordered by Qantas.

The 238-seat planes have an extra rear-centre fuel tank helping to increase the range by 1852 kilometres.

Flights are so long that much of the fuel is used merely to carry the weight of the remaining fuel.

Half of the 12 new jets will serve the ultra-long-haul London and New York markets.

The rest may replace Boeing 787s on other long routes such as Perth-London or Auckland-New York, freeing those planes to open new routes, Hudson said.

The first aircraft is due for delivery in April 2027, about five years later than originally expected due to the Covid-19 pandemic and supply chain delays.

-with AAP/PA