Qantas’ Project Sunrise aircraft touched down in Melbourne on Friday after a historic 19-hour direct flight from the Airbus factory in Toulouse, France. The custom-built Airbus A350-1000ULR, fitted with an additional 20,000-litre fuel tank, is designed to fly non-stop for up to 22 hours.
The flight marks a major milestone for Qantas’ ambitious plan to operate the world’s longest commercial flights, connecting Australia directly to London and New York. The plane, still in its primary coating, was flown by four Airbus flight test pilots and five flight test engineers.
Qantas’ chief technical pilot Alex Passerini noted that flight times vary from day to day due to wind conditions. The fastest Sydney-London flight would be 19 hours and 25 minutes, while the slowest is about 21 hours.
More than 60,000 people tracked the aircraft’s journey on FlightRadar24. Two Qantas pilots will join the return journey to France. The Project Sunrise service is expected to begin between London and Sydney from October 2027.
Article and image source: brisbanetimes.com.au
