🌅 Welcome to the Ultra-Long-Haul Era

SOURCE

Airbus

WHAT TO KNOW

• A specially modified Airbus A350-1000ULR jet operated by Qantas spent 24 hours and 24 minutes in the air during a nonstop test flight from Melbourne, Australia to Toulouse, France this week, covering 12,460 nautical miles as it set a new record for distance traveled by a commercial aircraft (the previous record was set by a Boeing 777-200LR in 2005). A team of five pilots navigated the aircraft across three continents and two oceans, witnessing two sunsets and two sunrises while passing through 17 timezones before touching down on July 28. Review the flight’s path on FlightRadar24.

WHY IT MATTERS

• The modified A350 was purpose-built for Qantas’s Project Sunrise, which aims to offer nonstop flights between Sydney and London starting in October 2027. The route’s intended 21 hours and 40 minutes flight time would be the world’s longest commercial passenger service, ushering in a new era of ultra-long-haul travel. Airbus equipped the -1000ULR variant with an additional rear center fuel tank, extending its range to about 10,000 nautical miles (the test flight traveled further as the pilots simulated the longest potential route and accounted for possible diversions). The planes will hold 238 seats across four cabins, and come with a “well-being zone” where passengers can stretch and grab snacks.

CONNECT THE DOTS

• While the test indeed set the distance record described above, it fell well short of the longest flight time by a commercial aircraft. That record is held by Qantas’s 33-hour-long “Double Sunrise” flights between Australia and Sri Lanka (then Ceylon) during World War 2. From 1943 to 1945, Qantas (along with the British Royal Air Force) flew stripped-down Catalina flying boats across the Indian Ocean during flights that lasted long enough for passengers to witness two sunrises (hence the name). However, the 4,100-mile journey and the Catalinas’ slow speed (averaging just 125 mph) meant only three commercial passengers were carried on each flight. The flights also provided a crucial diplomatic air link between Australia and Britain, carrying an average of 160 pounds of mail on each flight. Project Sunrise is named in honor of the Double Sunrise flights.