Sunrise off the ground!

Qantas has taken an important step toward launching Project Sunrise, its long-dreamed-of goal to establish direct flights between Australia and the cities of New York and London.

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The airline has ordered 12 Airbus A350-1000s planes, with hopes that the ultra-long-haul routes can begin operating in 2025.

Qantas has also shared preliminary concepts for its A350 cabin of the future that will offer a new level of comfort for all passengers on these direct flights that will cut up to four hours off total travel time compared with one-stop options today. Comfort will be the number one priority, as these flights will clock in over the 19-hour mark, making them the world's longest nonstop flights.

In total, there will be 238 total seats on each plane, which is the lowest number for any Airbus A350s currently in service. Those seats are spread between four classes of service - first class, business class, premium economy and economy.

Renderings for the plane interiors give some clues about what Qantas is planning for passengers on board.