Australian flag carrier Qantas has challenged the world’s two biggest plane makers to come up with a jet capable of flying nonstop to New York.
It has been the airline’s long term goal to fly nonstop to the Big Apple from Sydney or Melbourne – a flight time of more than 18 hours.
Qantas chief executive officer Alan Joyce thinks it could happen by 2022.
He has called on Boeing to extend the range of its new 777X which will roll out in 2020 and Airbus’ ultra long-range version of Airbus’s A350, which could launch next year.
Qantas said both jets ‘can get close’ to the required range.
A nonstop 18-hour flight to New York would cut current travel time by about three hours.
Qantas currently flies to Dallas from Sydney nonstop which takes about 16 hours.
Qantas also wants to fly nonstop from Sydney to London – a journey that would take about 20 hours.
The airline has already announced nonstop service to the UK from West Australia.
It begins Perth-London flights next March using Dreamliner jets.
However Sydney is an extra 2,000 miles east of Perth, so is not within range for the Dreamliner.
