Qantas assigns QF1/QF2 to planned non-stop London flights
The change is planned for October 2027. The Sydney–London service via Singapore will continue as QF5/QF6.
Verified brief
The story in 60 seconds
Qantas’s November 9 announcement assigns QF1 and QF2 to its planned non-stop Sydney–London service from October 2027. It keeps a one-stop option via Singapore under new flight numbers and schedules ticket sales for February 2027.
This brief and the full story below are based on the disclosed sources. SearchTrends Daily’s interpretation appears later under “Our take.”
Full reporting
The complete story
Qantas says QF1 and QF2 will become the flight numbers for its non-stop Sydney–London services under Project Sunrise from October 2027. The existing Sydney–London service via Singapore will continue as QF5 and QF6.
The airline also says the seasonal Perth–Rome services currently using QF5/QF6 will move to QF105/QF106. The announcement does not mean the Singapore-stop option is being withdrawn.
Ticket sales for the non-stop London service are scheduled to begin in February 2027. Qantas expects its first Project Sunrise aircraft in April 2027; these are separate milestones from the planned start of passenger services.
Nine’s November 9 reporting independently covers the flight-number change and continued Singapore routing. It places the announcement after Qantas’s earlier June unveiling of the London route, distinguishing today’s numbering details from the original route announcement.
Source perspectives
What other reporting adds
These are the reports, official records, and trend observations used to build the story. The note under each link explains exactly what it contributes.
Original announcement: QF1/QF2 and QF5/QF6 assignments, Perth–Rome renumbering, planned service, ticket-sale and aircraft-delivery dates. Full text read in browser.
Read original source ↗Nine / Kristine TarbertHuge change coming to popular Qantas flight route — November 9, 2026Independent reporting on the number changes, retained Singapore-stop service, ticket-sale timing and earlier route-announcement context.
Read original source ↗SearchTrends Daily opinion
Our take
Analysis
What the evidence and search signal suggest
Our assessment: this is a change in how the airline will identify two service patterns, rather than the removal of all stopover choices. The aircraft-delivery, ticket-sale and passenger-service dates should be kept separate when judging progress.
Analysis and commentary are SearchTrends Daily’s interpretation. They are intentionally separated from the sourced account above.
Meaning
Why this matters
A familiar flight number will describe a different journey after the planned change. The continuation of the Singapore-stop service matters to travellers who want that routing, even though its flight numbers will change.
Background
How we got here
Qantas dates the Kangaroo Route’s Sydney–London beginnings to 1947, when the trip involved four days and seven stops. The new announcement preserves the long-associated QF1/QF2 identifiers for the proposed non-stop service.
Outlook
What is likely to happen next
Qantas plans specially configured Airbus A350-1000ULR aircraft for Project Sunrise and says the non-stop journey could save up to four hours compared with its existing service. That is the airline’s stated expectation, not a result measured on an operating scheduled route. The next announced customer milestone is the planned February 2027 ticket sale; no fare or exact first-flight day is established here.
Image credit: SearchTrends Daily, original AI-generated editorial illustration reused from our airline coverage. It depicts an unbranded passenger aircraft at an imagined airport beside water and mountains. It is symbolic aviation context, not a photograph of a Qantas aircraft, an A350-1000ULR, Sydney, London or a Project Sunrise event. Asset unchanged; the site may crop its display.
A conditional editorial assessment based on the evidence available at the review date, not a guaranteed outcome.
Live record
Updates to this story
No material updates yet.
Commentary
What we think
The useful distinction is the route behind the flight number. Clear descriptions of the stopover option help make sense of the new naming.