Addendum
Qantas green-lights A380 return and ultra-long haul “Project Sunrise” launch
February 1st 2021
Qantas Group, unlike several other airlines, will return its A380s to service - when the time is right. The carrier’s’ fleet of 12 of the type is parked at Victorville in California’s Mojave Desert. Read More »
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Group CEO, Alan Joyce, said in an interview with Eurocontrol last month “an A380 fully or nearly fully written down, if it generates cash, will absolutely work”.
“Airports with slot restrictions, like Heathrow, where slots are extremely expensive, work for an A380. And the similar scheduling windows that worked for Australia are unique. So we do believe there is a need for that fleet and we do believe it will generate cash. It’s going to be all about cash when we start up international,” he said.
Another scheduling window for Qantas is North America. “If you have been in Los Angeles between 10 o’clock and midnight, you will see six or seven Qantas aircraft departing to Australia. It is the only time that works with curfews,” he said.
Instead of flying multiple frequencies right on top of each other [out of Los Angeles] it could be done differently with A380s, Joyce said.
He also fleshed out the time line for the introduction of “Project Sunrise”, the group’s planned ultra-long-haul flights from Australia’s east coast to London and North America.
“Before COVID-19, we had done three test flights. They were an amazing experience and we used them as test-research flights. Testing how our frequent flyers would feel, looking at pilot fatigue issues. We were taking it unbelievably seriously. We had designed a product. We had selected the A350-1000 and were weeks away from ordering it,” Joyce said.
“We want to revisit it at the end of 2021 with the potential of doing it in 2024 and onwards. We are still very keen on it. We think it is one of the big things that will change in the next decade and will allow us to have a sustainable competitive advantage that nobody else is probably going to introduce.”
