Qantas has warned that its planned Sydney-London Project Sunrise services could take longer and burn more fuel if Midway loses its status as an ETOPS alternate. The airline’s Airbus A350-1000ULR operation is due to begin at the end of 2027, and the loss of the North Pacific airport would affect routing and payload on one of Qantas’s most closely watched long-haul projects.
The airline estimates that a diversion around Midway would add about 20 minutes to the flight and require roughly 2,200kg of extra fuel, cutting payload by the equivalent of around 22 passengers. Midway reportedly needs about US$100 million in repairs, raising concern that its role in ETOPS planning could be reduced or removed.
Qantas is pressing US authorities to keep the airport available because ETOPS alternate access is central to the economics and operational reliability of ultra-long-haul flying. Project Sunrise is intended to launch direct flights from Sydney to London and later New York, using a routing structure that depends on approved diversion points across the Pacific.