The Qantas Project Sunrise flights will connect Sydney directly with New York and London for the first time from late 2025, cutting down point-to-point travel time by more than three hours compared to routes with one stop. Having already released the design for its First and Business cabins, it has now unveiled details of a new Wellbeing Zone, alongside the Premium Economy and Economy cabins.
The new Wellbeing Zone will be located between the Premium Economy and Economy cabins, featuring sculpted wall panels and integrated stretch handles, guided on-screen exercise programmes, a hydration station and a range of refreshments.
The 40-seat Premium Economy cabin and the 140-seat Economy cabin will have the most generous seat pitches of any Qantas aircraft, with ergonomic leg and foot rest systems. Every seat across all four cabins will feature multiple USB-C charging ports and all customers will be offered free WiFi. Look inside the aircraft in this video:
The airline has reduced the number of seats onboard its A350 to 238, compared to the 300-plus seat layout of many other carriers. Qantas Group chief executive Alan Joyce said: “It means we not only maximise aircraft performance across long distances, we give our passengers more space and comfort. Fewer seats translate to more space for each customer and a dedicated Wellbeing Zone for travellers to stretch, help themselves to a snack and spend time out of their seat. We are the only airline in the world that will have a bespoke designed onboard stretch and movement space.”
New research
Qantas has also released details of its research into reducing jet lag and improving sleep and wellbeing before, during and after ultra long-haul flights, which has driven the cabin design of its A350s.
The airline partnered with the University of Sydney’s Charles Perkins Centre to operate three Project Sunrise research flights from New York and London to Sydney in 2019. Researchers found that compared to a traditional inflight schedule, a tailored schedule could help reduce severe jet lag, improve inflight sleep quality and support better cognitive performance in the two days after the flight.
Researchers travelled on the aircraft and monitored 23 volunteer customers who were fitted with wearable device technology during the 20-hour flights, as they followed a specially designed menu, lighting, sleep and movement sequences.
The team adjusted the timing of meal services to align travellers’ body clocks with the time in their destination, and encouraged them to wake and sleep by using specific menu items including fish and chicken paired with fast-acting carbohydrates, as well as comfort foods like soups and milk-based desserts. The aim was to promote the brain’s production of the amino acid tryptophan (‘Tryp’) to help passengers drift off more easily.
Peter Cistulli, professor of sleep medicine at the University of Sydney, said while the research was ongoing, there were “clear signs” that the interventions implemented during the trial flights reduced the impact of ultra long-haul travel.
He explained: “The early results are promising. We have a multi-disciplinary team of more than ten researchers from medicine, science and engineering backgrounds working together on this project. This includes sleep researchers, circadian experts, nutrition and movement experts. No airline has ever done this kind of research before.”
Qantas’ Joyce added: “Given our geography, Qantas has a long history of using imagination and innovation to overcome the tyranny of distance between Australia and the rest of the world. Now that we have the aircraft technology to do these flights, we want to make sure the customer experience evolves as well, and that’s why we’re doing this research and designing our cabins and service differently.”
