THE longest flight in the world is taking off from the UK – with an official launch date finally confirmed.

Qantas Airways‘ Project Sunrise will launch the mega long flight from London to Sydney.

The flight will take around 20 hours, taking off from London Heathrow Airport to Sydney, Australia.

Eventually, flights will also take off from New York, USA.

Vanessa Hudson, CEO of Qantas Airways, said: “Australia’s distance from the rest of the world should never stand in the way.”

Flights to Sydney traditionally have a stopover often in Singapore, but Project Sunrise will be able to continually fly for up to 22 hours.

At the moment, the current longest flight in the world is Singapore Airlines’ Singapore to New York route, which takes around 19 hours.

UK tourism minister Stephanie Peacock said: “Qantas’s decision to make London the first destination for Project Sunrise is a powerful vote of confidence in the UK as a hub for global tourism, and a reflection of the deep ties between our two countries.

“This is a historic moment, not just for British aviation and tourism, but for the millions of passengers who will experience flying from Sydney to London non-stop for the first time.”

VisitBritain chief executive Patricia Yates said: “Australia is one of our most valuable inbound markets, set to reach £1.8 billion this year in visitor spending, and expanding airline connectivity and seat capacity is fantastic news for our competitive tourism offer and our welcome.”

Onboard the plane, passengers can expect 238 seats across First Class suites, Business Class, Premium Economy and Economy seats.

The cabins will prevent jet lag through different light settings, to help passengers to adapt to the time zone of their destination.

All passengers will also be able to use a Wellbeing Zone onboard, with space to move about, listen to guided wellbeing content and grab a healthy snack or drink.

Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity will also be available onboard.

Eventually there will be 12 aircraft as part of Project Sunrise.

Back in April the airline was hoping for an early 2027 launch, however this has now been pushed back to October 2027 with tickets for the first flights expected to go on sale in February 2027.

The Sun  UK