A specially modified Airbus A350 has completed a record-breaking flight lasting more than 24 hours, demonstrating the technology Qantas intends to use for nonstop passenger services connecting Australia with London and New York. The Airbus A350-1000ULR test aircraft departed Melbourne at 7:28 a.m. UTC on July 27, 2026, and landed at the manufacturer’s headquarters in Toulouse, France, 24 hours and 24 minutes later. It covered 23,075.92 kilometres, or 12,460 nautical miles, without landing or refuelling.
The journey set a new record for the greatest distance flown by a commercial-aircraft type, surpassing a record established by a Boeing 777-200LR in 2005. However, it was a certification and endurance test rather than a scheduled commercial service. It carried Airbus test personnel and Qantas pilots but no fare-paying passengers. The aircraft deliberately took a much longer eastbound route than the shortest path between Melbourne and Toulouse. It flew across the Pacific Ocean and North America before crossing the Atlantic, passing near Sydney, London Heathrow and the Rolls-Royce engine facility in Derby.
During the flight, the aircraft crossed three continents, two oceans, 17 time zones and 19 flight-information regions. Its occupants experienced two sunsets and two sunrises, while the aircraft reached a maximum altitude of 41,000 feet and a maximum ground speed of 662 knots. The flight attracted 3,652,947 followers on Flightradar24, making it the platform’s second-most-followed flight. Only the aircraft carrying Queen Elizabeth II’s coffin from Edinburgh to London in September 2022 attracted more viewers. Flightradar24 published the flight path and complete record statistics.
The aircraft was developed for Qantas’s Project Sunrise, an ambitious programme intended to eliminate stopovers between Australia’s east coast and major cities in Europe and North America. Qantas plans to begin daily nonstop Sydney–London flights in October 2027, followed by a Sydney–New York service. Those passenger flights will not normally last 24 hours. Depending on winds, routing and direction, they are expected to take approximately 19 to 22 hours. Nevertheless, they would overtake Singapore Airlines’ services between Singapore and New York as the world’s longest scheduled nonstop passenger flights.
The specially designed A350-1000ULR includes an additional 20,000-litre fuel tank and a modified fuel-management system. Qantas has ordered 12 aircraft, with the first—named Vega—scheduled for delivery in April 2027. Qantas says the additional tank permits commercial operations lasting as long as 22 hours. Each aircraft will contain only 238 seats, considerably fewer than the maximum capacity of a conventional A350-1000. The reduced density lowers weight and provides additional passenger space, but it also reflects Qantas’s decision to target travellers willing to pay more for convenience and comfort.
The cabin will include first, business, premium-economy and economy sections, together with a dedicated wellbeing area where passengers can stand, stretch and obtain water or snacks. Lighting, meal times and recommended sleep periods have been developed with researchers from the University of Sydney to help travellers adjust their body clocks to the destination’s time zone.
Preliminary Project Sunrise research indicated that carefully timed lighting, food, sleep and exercise could improve passenger wellbeing and reduce jet lag. However, spending approximately 20 hours inside an aircraft will still create physical and psychological challenges, particularly for passengers seated in economy.
Long periods of immobility can increase the risk of deep-vein thrombosis, in which a blood clot forms in the leg and can potentially travel to the lungs. The overall risk remains small for most healthy passengers but rises for people with additional factors such as pregnancy, recent surgery, previous blood clots or oestrogen-containing medication. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advises travellers on long journeys to move their legs frequently and walk approximately every one to two hours.
Crew fatigue is another concern. Ultra-long flights require multiple pilots and cabin-crew teams, protected rest periods and specially designed sleeping areas. Regulators must be satisfied that the aircraft, fuel system, crew arrangements and emergency procedures can operate safely throughout exceptionally long journeys and diversions.
Project Sunrise also raises environmental questions. A nonstop service avoids the additional take-off and landing required by a one-stop journey and may use a newer, more efficient aircraft. However, an aeroplane travelling such an extreme distance must carry large quantities of fuel from departure, and carrying that fuel itself increases weight and consumption.
The relatively low number of passengers could also increase emissions per traveller, particularly compared with a more densely configured aircraft. Qantas argues that the A350 is more efficient than older long-haul jets, but critics say the company should publish detailed route-specific emissions data so that the environmental claims can be independently assessed.
The project is also a commercial gamble. Nonstop flights could save travellers as much as four hours and remove the stress of transferring through an intermediate airport. Yet their higher operating costs mean tickets are likely to command a premium, potentially limiting their appeal beyond business travellers and wealthier passengers. The 24-hour test has proved that a modern commercial jet can fly an extraordinary distance without stopping. The more important test will begin in 2027: whether hundreds of passengers can complete almost an entire day in the air safely, comfortably, affordably and with an environmental cost the airline can justify.
