Qantas plans wellness zones for 20-hour Project Sunrise flights

Qantas is trying to turn some of the world’s longest commercial flights into something closer to a controlled health experiment. The airline plans a wellness zone, specially timed meals, extra legroom and animated lighting for its first non-stop Sydney-London service, which it is targeting for October 2027.

The carrier’s new Airbus A350-1000ULR will carry just 238 passengers, which Qantas says is the lowest seat density of any A350 in operation globally. The first aircraft, named Vega, is scheduled for delivery in April 2027, and Qantas ordered 12 of the specially modified jets in May 2022. A Sydney-New York route is still planned for later, with timing to be announced separately.

The pitch is not just comfort, but biology. Qantas has spent a decade working with the University of Sydney’s Charles Perkins Centre and Caon Design Office on the Project Sunrise cabin, trying to blunt the effects of crossing seven to nine time zones to London and 14 to 16 to New York. Peter Cistulli, a University of Sydney sleep specialist involved in the project, has described such flights as a major biological challenge, which is why the airline has studied nutrition, movement, ergonomics and especially light.

That research fed into a cabin lighting system Qantas says is inspired by Australian landscapes and grounded in science. The airline says the design drew on more than 150 hours of research, and its testing suggested that passengers were more alert when meal times were adjusted, food was not served immediately after takeoff and a protected sleep window was created with lighting. The wellness zone, which will sit between premium economy and economy, is being positioned as a shared space for passengers in all cabins after more experimental ideas such as exercise bikes and yoga mats were dropped.

Project Sunrise was first announced in 2017, and the latest version of the plan shows how aggressively airlines are now competing on ultra-long-haul routes. Qantas is trying to persuade travelers that avoiding layovers and shaving time off a journey can justify a premium fare, even on flights that can last up to 22 hours and cover almost 10,000 nautical miles. The real test is whether cabin design can meaningfully ease fatigue and jet lag, or only make a punishing trip feel slightly less punishing.