Qantas achieved a record-breaking milestone when one of its specially modified Airbus A350-1000ULR jets completed an extended test flight on Tuesday, remaining airborne for 24 hours and 24 minutes. The aircraft departed from Melbourne and covered approximately 23,075 kilometers across the Pacific and Atlantic oceans before landing at Airbus’s manufacturing facility in Toulouse, France.
The flight surpassed the previous commercial aviation endurance record of 22 hours and 42 minutes, which was set by a Boeing 777–200LR aircraft flying between Hong Kong and London via the Pacific in 2005. The successful test flight is part of Qantas’s Project Sunrise initiative, which aims to establish direct nonstop routes connecting Australia’s eastern coast with London and New York.
Airbus has been conducting a two-month testing campaign on the aircraft since June, with an earlier test flight from Toulouse to Melbourne via the Indian Ocean completed in just over 19 hours. The specially adapted A350-1000ULR features an additional fuel tank carrying 20,000 liters of extra fuel and is designed to accommodate 238 passengers. The record-breaking flight generated significant public interest, becoming the second-most-tracked flight on Flightradar24 with more than 3.6 million people monitoring its progress.
Qantas has ordered 12 of the modified aircraft and expects the first delivery in April 2027. The airline plans to launch daily nonstop service between Sydney and London from October 2027, reducing what was historically a five-day journey on the “Kangaroo Route” to a single flight lasting between 19 and 21 hours, depending on routing and wind conditions.
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