Qantas flight makes history in Sydney

I know this is a few days old now, but due to heavy work commitments I have I haven't been able to post, but wanted to complete the story of the record breaking 787 flight.


Qantas made history when one of its Boeing 787-9s landed in Sydney at 7:42 a.m (local time) on Sunday morning after flying for 19:15 hours from New York. The survey Flight 7879, with 50 passengers and crew on board, departed New York’s John F Kennedy Airport at 9pm New York as the first commercial airline to fly non-stop between New York and Sydney. The 787-9 aircraft has been positioned to New York after being delivered from the Boeing factory in Seattle. After this research flight, the aircraft will enter normal commercial service with Qantas. “The purpose of the record-breaking flight is to conduct scientific research on passengers and crew on an ultra-long haul flight, with the aim of increasing health and wellness, minimising jetlag and identifying optimum crew rest and work periods.” says Qantas. It is part of Qantas’ ongoing quest to launch commercial flights between the east coast of Australia (Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane) and New York and London. While not designed for the 16,200 kilometre (10,200 mile) journey from New York to Sydney, the 787-9 being used for today’s research flight took off with maximum fuel and a restricted passenger and baggage load (and no cargo) to allow the aircraft to operate the flight non-stop. Airbus and Boeing have pitched aircraft (the A350 and 777X respectively) with the range to operate Project Sunrise flights on a commercial basis. These pitches, together with findings from the research flights and other streams of work, will form part of a business case being developed by Qantas to inform a final yes/no decision on Project Sunrise expected by the end of this year. If approved, flights would start in 2022/23. Qantas has named its endeavor “Project Sunrise” after the airline’s historic ‘Double Sunrise’ endurance flights during the Second World War, which remained airborne long enough to see two sunrises.

Fast Facts about the flight

– QF 7879 non-stop flight from New York to Sydney took 19 Hours:15 Mins
– Distance between New York and Sydney is 16,200 kilometres. (10,066 Mile)
– The flight was operated by a brand new Boeing 787-9, registration VH ZNI (66073 LN:921) named “Kookaburra”
– Four pilots was on rotation throughout the flight. Two additional pilots was in the cabin, having flown the aircraft to New York. Total flight hour experience on the aircraft is 67,000.
– The aircraft operated with a maximum fuel load of approx. 101,000kg. Projected fuel remaining upon landing is approximately 6,000kg which translates to about 90 minutes of flight time.
– Maximum take-off weight for a 787-9 is 254,000kg. QF 7879 JFK to SYD departed at 233,000kg take-off weight with the same amount of fuel 101,000kg that Qantas departs Perth to London flights with.
– Nearly half of the aircraft weight on take-off is fuel. The other is aircraft, passengers and bags.
– Flight travelled at 85% the speed of sound which is around 930 kilometres an hour. Cruising altitude started at 36,000 feet for the first few hours and then as the aircraft weight reduces with fuel burn, the cruising altitude will increase to 40,000 feet.
– Pantry galley weight will be 1,500kg’s (food, trolleys etc.)