Qantas is building a special aircraft to fly non-stop from Sydney to London in about 22 hours. It's modifying an Airbus A350 jet, and the key change is adding an extra fuel tank.

The extra tank holds 20,000 litres of fuel and gets bolted into the back of the aircraft, according to Qantas. A standard A350 carries about 158,000 litres of fuel; this addition is like adding roughly a tenth more on top. That extra fuel is what makes the long journeys possible — without it, the plane simply couldn't reach London or New York from Sydney in one flight.

The distances involved are vast. Sydney to London is about 17,000 kilometres. Sydney to New York is roughly 16,200 kilometres, but flying east across the Pacific means fighting strong headwinds — imagine trying to run into a stiff breeze versus with it at your back. A 22-hour fuel capacity gives the plane enough buffer to handle these headwinds and still land safely.

Qantas already flies long journeys, like Perth to London, which takes over 16 hours. But this Sydney route is different — it's not just a bit longer, it's a whole new category. Flying passengers for that long changes how pilots work (crew fatigue is real), how the cabin needs to be set up, and how reliable the plane's systems need to be. Qantas has been studying how long flights affect passengers — things like jet lag and cabin comfort — since 2019, and those findings will shape how the A350 is set up inside.

Why use the A350? This Airbus model burns fuel very efficiently compared to other large jets, and its bigger size means engineers have more room to add extra fuel weight without breaking the aircraft. Other airlines have used a similar trick before: Emirates and Singapore Airlines once relied on modified Boeing 777s with extra fuel tanks for their own super-long flights.

Here's the catch: a plane burning fuel for 22 hours carries fewer passengers than a normal long-haul jet. That means the cost per empty seat is higher, so Qantas needs to charge premium fares to make it work. The airline is betting that business travellers and well-off passengers will pay extra to skip the stopover in cities like Dubai or Singapore. That bet could pay off — but only if the non-stop journey feels worth the higher ticket price.

Qantas hasn't said when these flights will start or when the plane will be delivered. Aircraft projects regularly take longer than planned, and a heavily customised jet like this one carries real risk of delays.

What Qantas has proved, at least on paper, is that non-stop flying between Sydney and London is technically possible. Whether passengers will actually book these flights, and whether the airline can make money on them, are questions that real-world ticket sales will answer — not predictions made today.