Airbus Completes Record 24-Hour Nonstop Flight for Qantas

Airbus SE completed a record-breaking nonstop test flight of the A350-1000ULR on July 28, 2026, flying from Melbourne, Australia, to Toulouse, France. The aircraft, registered as F-WULR and named Vega, remained in the air for 24 hours and 24 minutes and covered 12,460 nautical miles (approximately 23,075 km). The journey followed an eastbound trans-Pacific route over Canada and the United States, surpassing the previous commercial aircraft testing record of 22 hours and 42 minutes set by a Boeing 777-200LR in 2005.

This flight serves as a critical milestone for Qantas's Project Sunrise, an initiative designed to eliminate stopovers between Australia and Europe. Qantas has ordered 12 of these modified aircraft, which feature a rear centre fuel tank and a low-density cabin with 238 seats to improve passenger comfort on journeys exceeding 20 hours. The cabin design was developed through nearly a decade of collaboration with the University of Sydney Charles Perkins Centre and the Caon Design Office.

The flight attracted significant global attention, becoming the second-most-tracked flight in the history of Flightradar24 with over 3.6 million followers. Qantas expects to receive its first aircraft in April 2027, with daily nonstop services from Sydney to London projected to begin in October 2027, establishing the world's longest commercial passenger service.