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Qantas lands its A350-1000ULR in Melbourne after 19-hour test flight

Qantas said four test pilots and five test engineers are operating the aircraft over the weekend, with a return trip to Toulouse planned for Monday.

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Qantas has taken delivery of its new Airbus A350-1000ULR in Melbourne, landing at Tullamarine on Friday after a nonstop 19-hour and 13-minute test flight from Airbus’ factory in Toulouse, France, according to the Guardian Business.

The aircraft is part of the airline’s Project Sunrise effort to enable its longest routes, with the plane designed for nonstop flights of up to 22 hours. The airline expects the Sydney to London direct service to begin in October 2027.

Flight tracking drew heavy attention during the nearly 17,000 km journey, with more than 67,000 people following the route on flightradar24.com by Friday morning, the outlet reported.

Qantas said four Airbus flight test pilots and five flight test engineers are operating the aircraft, and the plane will remain in Melbourne over the weekend before departing for Toulouse on Monday. Qantas chief technical pilot Alex Passerini told Channel Seven the return flight would take 23 hours, as crews tested systems including fuel transfer and air conditioning.

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