Qantas A350 (Project Sunrise)

Airbus has yet to disclose detailed final specifications of the adapted A350-1000 which will be developed for Australian carrier Qantas’s Project Sunrise ultra-long-haul flights...But the airframer stresses that the proposed aircraft, while “based on” the -1000, is “not a ULR”, suggesting that it is not intending to produce an equivalent modified version of the -1000 in the same way that it developed the A350-900ULR for ultra-long-haul services. Airbus has not confirmed the range or final maximum take-off weight of the Sunrise aircraft, but has been putting forward a 319t version of the Rolls-Royce Trent XWB-powered jet...

FlightGlobal understands that, although technical details of the aircraft are still being finalised, the primary issue to be resolved relates to crew working conditions.“Airbus has given us an extra month to lock in an aircraft order without impacting our planned start date, which means we can spend more time on hopefully reaching a deal with our pilots,” says Qantas chief Alan Joyce.