Qantas A350 early flights: Sydney-Melbourne, Auckland, LAX

Qantas’ newest jetliner – the Airbus A350-1000, featuring all-new suites in first and business class, is due to arrive in April 2027.

And by October, it’ll be one of three planes soaring non-stop between Sydney and London – marathon flights lasting up to 22 hours.

But you don’t need to spend almost a whole day travelling from one corner of the globe to the other, in order to step on board the Qantas A350.

In the months between April and October, this ultra-long range jet will be making far more modest and manageable trips as pilots, crew and airport teams get to know the A350, which is new to the Qantas fleet.

On the sidelines of last week’s Project Sunrise announcements in Toulouse, Qantas gave Executive Traveller the run-down.

The Qantas A350 to fly Sydney–Melbourne

First up, the A350 will be darting between Sydney and Melbourne.

Yes, the plane designed to fly the world’s longest routes will be busy making quick 90-minute hops.

In its early days, the mighty A350 will be darting between Sydney and Melbourne.

This is so that Qantas’ team of A350 pilots can gain valuable and indeed necessary experience in the cockpit – on the taxiway, take-off and landing, and of course flying – for which these short sectors are ideal.

These won’t be scheduled commercial flights with paying passengers.

But there’s no doubt the presence of the shiny new A350 will cause a stir when sighted, especially from the Qantas lounges.

Sydney–Auckland Qantas A350 flights

Your best chance to get on board the A350 will be when it appears on the popular Sydney-Auckland route.

This could be around the middle of the year – the timetable is far from locked in – and Qantas knows these three-hour A350 jaunts across the pond will be a hit with frequent flyers and enthusiasts.

Business class will be the hot ticket on the A350's Sydney-Auckland flights.

Unlike some early surprise-and-delight flights of the Airbus A321XLR, where “we didn’t market those flights...  we had a 737 market in a late stage, we did a tail swap and put in the XLR,” Qantas International CEO Cam Wallace tells Executive Traveller that the airline expects to make it very clear which flights will feature the A350.

“We haven’t finalised that (approach), but that's our working assumption... because we want to fill the aircraft, and we think it’ll be an attractive proposition.”

On these trans-Tasman flights, the A350's six first class suites might be available only to Platinum and Platinum One frequent flyers when selecting their seat.

You don’t need to worry, Cam – once people know which flights on your schedule will feature the mighty A350, tickets – especially in the pointy end of the plane, but even down the back in economy – are going to sell like than the proverbial hotcakes.

Sydney–Los Angeles Qantas A350 flights

Yes, the A350 will also be making trans-Pacific crossings.

These will give pilots and cabin crew an opportunity to become familiar with the A350 on a proper long-range route of 14 hours before stepping up to those 22-hour flights.

SYD-LAX flights will offer some real-world 'proof of concept' with economy class flyers on the 14-hour trek.

This will be especially useful for cabin crew, as the SYD-LAX-SYD legs will encompass full meal services, unlike the quick trans-Tasman hop, because passengers on those A350 flights will get the full experience in all four classes.

“We’ve also got an engineering base in LA, so it will be important for the engineers,” Wallace added.

A Qantas A350 Points Plane?

Qantas is also considering turning one A350 flight into what it calls a Points Plane – where every single seat is available using Qantas Points, and at low Classic Reward rates.

“We’re considering some proposals on those,” Wallace revealed.

“We haven’t confirmed anything, but that’s one of the options that we have. The Points Planes have gone really, really well.”

At the same time, many people will be happy to pay regular fares for their chance to fly on a scheduled A350 service.

“I’d say there will be some individuals tracking the aircraft, so I think there will be a willingness to pay on that sector as well. So we’ve just got to balance those two things up.”

We'll take a punt and say “Why not both?”. At least an A350 Points Plane between Sydney and Auckland, for starters...

Also read: Qantas A350 gets Economy Plus, and ‘economy minus’

David Flynn travelled to Toulouse as a guest of Qantas and Airbus.