Qantas' New Plane Just Flew 10K-Plus Miles Nonstop

Qantas' next-generation long-haul jet just completed a 10,500-mile nonstop debut run to Australia. The Airbus A350-1000ULR touched down in Melbourne just before 11am on Friday after a roughly 19-hour test flight from Toulouse, France, drawing more than 67,000 online trackers and topping FlightRadar24's global watch list for the morning, per the Guardian. The aircraft is built to handle up to 22-hour stretches and underpins Qantas' repeatedly delayed "Project Sunrise" nonstop Sydney-to-London route, now slated to launch after the first branded jet is delivered in April 2027.

This test plane, flying in tan rather than Qantas' usual red-and-white theme, carried four Airbus test pilots and five engineers, with a 23-hour return to France planned as crews put everything from fuel systems to air conditioning through its paces. Once the flight is in official service, the airline says it will save customers four hours compared with anything they can currently book, per the Independent. WION notes that Singapore Airlines currently holds the title for world's longest flight, a trip from the host nation to New York that covers more than 9,500 miles and takes nearly 19 hours.