The first Qantas Project Sunrise route, connecting Sydney with London, will launch in October 2027.
The date represents an approximately six-month delay from the timeline Qantas pointed to last November.
Project Sunrise is Qantas' longstanding program to enable what will be the longest routes in commercial aviation, connecting Sydney and Melbourne with London and New York. The airline said Sydney-New York will be the second Project Sunrise route; the launch date will be announced next year.
All of the Project Sunrise routes are to be serviced by A350-1000ULR aircraft purpose-built for the missions. The aircraft are to be fitted with an additional 5,300-gallon fuel tank that enables them to fly more than 9,900 miles for up to 22 hours nonstop. Qantas will take delivery of 12 A350-1000ULRs in total.
Delivery delays have forced the airline to push back the launch of the Project Sunrise service.
Qantas' Wednesday announcement came as the airline unveiled its first A350-1000ULR painted in the Qantas livery at the Airbus manufacturing facility in Toulouse, France.
A second aircraft is moving through its eight-week testing and certification program, after taking flight for the first time earlier this month, Qantas said.
The carrier didn’t immediately respond to an inquiry about delivery timelines for those aircraft.