Qantas test aircraft completes longest commercial flight, covering 23,218 km in support of planned Sydney-London service.
12:24 PM
An Airbus A350-1000 ULR operated by Qantas completed what is believed to be the longest commercial flight on record, landing in Toulouse on Tuesday after 24 hours and 24 minutes in the air, having departed from Melbourne.
The aircraft covered 23,218 kilometers during the flight, surpassing the previous record set in 2005 by a Boeing 777-200LR, which flew from Hong Kong to London in 22 hours and 42 minutes, covering 21,602 kilometers.
The test flight routed the aircraft across the Pacific Ocean, over the United States, Canada, and Greenland before reaching France. The journey came just four days after the same aircraft had completed a flight from Toulouse to Melbourne in 19 hours and 13 minutes, covering more than 16,900 kilometers.
The flights are part of Project Sunrise, Qantas's initiative to establish ultra-long-range routes. The airline plans to introduce non-stop service from Sydney to London and Sydney to New York beginning in late 2027, with the specific routing dependent on wind patterns at the time of operation.
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