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Australian airline Qantas wants to begin non-stop flights from Sydney to London and New York by 2022 - challenging Airbus to develop a new generation of ultra-long range jets.

Airline bosses want a plane capable of flying the 20 hour route (10,560 miles) - which would become the world's longest commercial flight.

They want to run routes from Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane to London and New York.

Qantas CEO Alan Joyce will formally launch the ambitious initiative at Friday's declaration of the airline’s 2017 financial results.

He will note the current long range planes under development by Airbus and Boeing will still fall short of flying from Australia's east coast to London with passengers and luggage at full capacity.

The aircraft manufacturers will be challenged to push the envelope in technology, design and engineering.

It’s estimated that passengers on a non-stop flight from Sydney to London would be in the air for 20 hours and 20 minutes – a saving of almost four hours compared to the total journey time of the currrent route via Dubai.

The current longest non-stop commercial flight, is a 9,032-mile (14,535km) marathon from Doha to Auckland, New Zealand.