Chicago and Miami Set To Welcome Nonstop Qantas Flights to Australia

Project Sunrise has never been closer to taking to the skies.

In addition to the original Project Sunrise routes from Sydney (SYD) and Melbourne (MEL) to London Heathrow (LHR) and New York (JFK), Qantas wants to fly nonstop to even more cities around the world, including Chicago (ORD) and Miami (MIA).

“We’re defeating distance,” said Alan Joyce, CEO at Qantas, in an interview with The Times.

Here’s what we know so far about Qantas’ future Project Sunrise routes to the U.S.

Qantas To Fly Nonstop From Oz to Chicago and Miami

In addition to New York, Qantas has confirmed its plans to fly nonstop from Melbourne (MEL) and Sydney (SYD) to both Chicago (ORD) and Miami (MIA) as soon as 2025.

At a whopping 9,691 miles, the longest of the 4 newly planned routes is from Melbourne to Miami. That’s still shorter than the 10,374-mile route that the Australian flag carrier is set operate between Melbourne and New York.

New York will also welcome Qantas’ new nonstop service from Auckland (AKL) from June 2023.

As it stands, travelers heading Down Under from Chicago and Miami would need to transit through cities like Dallas (DFW), Los Angeles (LAX), or San Francisco (SFO), which currently welcome nonstop service from Australia.

Chicago and Miami are just 2 of a bunch of new Project Sunrise destinations revealed by Joyce, including Frankfurt (FRA), Paris (CDG), and São Paulo (GRU).

Cape Town (CPT) was also cited, though this route would be significantly shorter than the nonstops to Europe and the U.S.

Bottom Line: When the Project Sunrise routes launch, Qantas will operate a total of 12 nonstop services between the U.S. and Australia. Here are the direct routes to and from the U.S. that Qantas currently services.

The Aircraft

Qantas has ordered specially-modified Airbus A350 aircraft to operate its Project Sunrise routes. The jets will have an additional fuel tank to make sure they have enough fuel to carry out the globe-circling nonstop flights.

The configuration of the jets will be distinctly geared towards premium passengers. There’ll be 6 closed suites in first class, 52 lie-flat seats in business class, 40 reclining seats in premium economy, and just 140 seats in economy.

Final Thoughts

Modern aviation is turning the previously unthinkable into the positively possible.

Qantas’ ultra-long-haul flights are set to take to the skies for the first time in 2025. The routes will mean would-be travelers in the U.S. and Europe will be able to travel to Melbourne and Sydney without changing planes for the first time ever.

Is it too soon to start counting down to 2025?