The Qantas Airbus A350 made history by landing in Toulouse, France, 24 hours and 24 minutes after taking off from Melbourne, marking the longest flight ever performed by a commercial aircraft.
elchi reports that the specially designed A350-1000ULR aircraft is scheduled to begin direct flights on the Australian airline’s Sydney-London route by 2027.
Manufacturer Airbus has been conducting test flights on the aircraft for two months since June.
It was reported that the aircraft, equipped with an additional fuel tank, remained in the air non-stop for 24 hours and 24 minutes on a 23,075-kilometer route over the Pacific and Atlantic oceans.
The flight ended with a landing at the factory in Toulouse
It is reported that the flight surpassed the previous record of 22 hours and 42 minutes set over the Pacific Ocean by a Boeing 777-200LR flying from Hong Kong to London in 2005.
Flight tracking platform Flightradar24 noted that this journey was the second most tracked flight on its platform. Approximately 3.6 million people watched the aircraft’s route live.
Qantas has ordered 12 modified A350-1000ULR aircraft, designed for approximately 20 hours of flight, to connect Australia’s east coast with London and New York.
The first aircraft, which has an additional 20,000-liter fuel capacity and can carry 238 passengers, is expected to be delivered in April 2027.
Direct daily flights between Sydney and London are scheduled to begin in October 2027.
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