An extraordinary aircraft made civil aviation history on Tuesday, July 28. A specially built Airbus A350-1000ULR (Ultra Long Range) for Australia’s Qantas airline has landed at Toulouse-Blagnac Airport after a non-stop 24-hour, 24-minute test flight from Melbourne covering more than 23,000 kilometers without refuelling.
The aircraft took off from Melbourne on Monday at 5:27 p.m. (local time) and landed in Toulouse on Tuesday at 9:52 a.m. (local time), after flying over the Pacific, North America, and then the Atlantic. According to data from Flightradar24, the flight lasted exactly 24 hours and 23 minutes, a feat followed live by millions of internet users.
This return flight was not an isolated event: it followed a Toulouse-to-Melbourne outbound flight the previous week, which covered 17,000 km in 19 hours and 12 minutes. These two flights were the most-watched in the history of the Flightradar24 website, according to Le Temps, a feat confirmed by another media outlet, which even described it as the second-most-watched aviation event of all time on this platform.
An additional fuel tank
The acronym ULR stands for Ultra Long Range, a feat made possible by the installation of an additional 20,000-liter central fuel tank at the rear of the aircraft. This structural modification allows the aircraft to carry a total of approximately 189,000 liters of fuel.
This additional fuel capacity gives the aircraft a considerable range, capable of covering nearly 10,000 nautical miles, thanks in particular to the Rolls-Royce Trent XWB-97 engines, which are renowned for their fuel efficiency.
A Crew well-versed in fatigue management
The aircraft was piloted by a crew of eight from Airbus’s flight test department, accompanied by two Qantas pilots. To manage a flight of this duration, specific protocols were put in place: test pilot and captain Xavier Pepin explained that four-hour shifts had been established, with a crew change every two hours. An Airbus test pilot was always at the controls when a Qantas pilot occupied the other seat, as Airbus retained responsibility for the operation.
A cabin designed for ultra-long-haul flights
Far from the usual seat density on commercial flights, the aircraft destined for Qantas’ commercial service will be configured with just 238 seats, well below the more than 350 seats in a standard A350-1000 configuration. Qantas describes it as the lowest-density seating configuration of any A350 in the world, with a clear goal: to offer passengers more space.
The Australian airline has been working on this cabin for about a decade, in collaboration with the Charles Perkins Center at the University of Sydney and the design firm Caon Design Office.
Targeted Commercial Routes: “Project Sunrise”
This test flight is part of Qantas’s Project Sunrise program, which aims to offer the first truly nonstop commercial flights between Australia and the rest of the world. The Australian airline plans to launch nonstop flights between London and Sydney starting in October 2027, a route that precisely mirrors the type of journey tested on this return flight. Later, the airline also plans to launch a route between Sydney and New York.
To put the scale of these future routes into perspective: the longest commercial flight currently in service is Singapore Airlines’ route between Singapore and New York-JFK, covering approximately 15,350 km and taking just over 18 hours. Qantas’s future routes will therefore far exceed this record.
A fleet of twelve aircraft on order
Qantas has ordered twelve A350-1000ULR aircraft, in addition to twelve other A350-1000s intended for standard, less extreme long-haul flights. Delivery of the first aircraft to the Australian airline is expected in 2027.