Airlines

Will the new Qantas A350-1000 first class become the holy grail of flying?

May 4, 2022

a small bed with a tray and a table with a laptop on it

In case you missed it, Australia’s Qantas has just pushed the button on their ambitious Project Sunrise. This means their non-stop flights from Sydney and Melbourne to London and New York are happening. I think these will become the holy grail of flying for aviation fans, just as they will be for a lot of Australians.

A brand new first class product is being introduced on the planes, which is not unsurprising. Since the flights will last for 20 hours a pop, the need for superior comfort for the oneworld alliance carrier’s most well heeled passengers is a must.

Will It Become The Holy Grail Of Flying?

Flying at the pointy end on Qantas is not cheap and by that I mean it is ridiculously expensive. For example, flying in November 2022 (a non-peak month) from Sydney to London and return will cost A$16,517. That is €11,137 or £9,376 or US$11,712. A boatload of money in anyone’s book, and it’s sure to increase on the new non-stops.

It’s been a holy grail of mine, but I certainly can’t afford to pay that kind of money for a flight. That’s almost a deposit on a house for some people (if there were any houses available cheaply, which certainly isn’t the case in a lot of places around the world right now).

What about frequent flyer miles – surely it should be easy to snag a first class seat with points? How about no? Frequent flyer seats are like hens teeth when it comes to Qantas first class.

The new aircraft will have only six first class suites (there are 14 first class seats on the Qantas Airbus A380 today), so you are pretty much going to have to pay for it. That means only the wealthiest people will get to experience this product. The Aussie airline is certainly not in the habit of giving it away free.

Overall Thoughts

A flight in Qantas first class has been a holy grail of mine since forever. It’s the only class of service I have not tried with them, and so it remains on the list of things I dream of doing. The closest I’ve come is visiting their superb international first class lounge in Sydney, which of course you can enter thanks to high status.

The new Qantas flights will be the longest flights in the world when they take-off at the end of 2025. Getting a seat in first class on the longest flight in the world will be a very exclusive experience indeed.

What do you think of the new Qantas first class and is it going to be that difficult to fly in it? Thank you for reading and if you have any comments or questions, please leave them below.

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Images via Qantas.