Qantas Project Sunrise non-stop flights to London, New York: World's longest flights to be less comfortable

Proposed flights half way around the globe are set to be even less comfortable than expected. That is, if the marathon 20-hour non-stop services from Sydney and Melbourne to London get off the ground at all.

Qantas ditched the notion of rolling out bunks, beds, a gym or even a creche for passengers enduring the world's longest commercial flight. Instead, they'll be given a space to have a stretch and a drink of water, Qantas Chief Executive Officer Alan Joyce said Monday in Seoul.

The more spartan comfort levels underscore Qantas's challenge as it tries to break through what it calls aviation's last frontier. There are other barriers, too: While Joyce said the planes proposed by Boeing and Airbus for the ultra long-haul flights can make the distance, neither can carry the weight that Qantas initially targeted.

Speaking to reporters in Seoul at the annual gathering of airline bosses, Joyce said he still needs Qantas pilots to agree to the longer working hours the ultra-long flights will entail.

"There are a significant number of hurdles to overcome but we think we can make this work," he said. "There's still not full payload on each aircraft, but there's enough we think to make it commercially viable if the other parts of the business case get there."

Deadline Looms

Qantas expects to receive final aircraft proposals from Boeing and Airbus by August. That will include the price of the plane, as well as guarantees on fuel efficiency, maintenance costs and reliability. Joyce said he'll order the jets by year-end if he decides to push ahead with the flights, which are known at Qantas as Project Sunrise.