Airbus and Qantas are currently in the process of making history by operating their longest-ever nonstop test flight with the new A350-1000ULR twinjet that will eventually be used to link eastern Australia with Europe and New York. The momentous test flight took off from Airbus’s facilities at Toulouse Blagnac Airport (TLS) in southwestern France this morning, and it is bound for Melbourne (MEL).

When all is said and done, at the time of the widebody’s arrival in Melbourne tomorrow morning, the jet will have spent around 20 hours in the air, as Qantas edges another step closer toward being able to fly the type commercially on new nonstop routes. While the airline does currently link Australia with Europe on a nonstop basis, it is only able to do so from Perth, so the A350-1000ULR holds great promise.

A Significant Departure

Credit: Airbus

At the time of writing, tracking data made available by Flightradar24 showed that the Airbus A350-1000ULR in question, which bears the serial number 707 and the registration F-WULR, had been in the air for just over eight hours. It took off from Toulouse Blagnac Airport at 7:33 AM local time this morning, just three minutes after its scheduled time of departure, and flew a southeasterly course towards Egypt.

The aircraft has consistently been the most tracked flight in the world all day, with the gravity of this momentous occasion not lost on the online avgeek community. According to reporting on the matter by AeroTime, Airbus is using the test flight as an opportunity to acquire data and see how the jet performs on the kind of flight that it hopes will become routine for the A350-1000ULR in the not-too-distant future.

Simple Flying has reached out to Qantas for more information regarding this test flight. We will update our coverage upon receiving a statement from the airline.

Not Even Halfway There Yet

Credit: Flightradar24

As detailed in the table below, the flight was initially expected to arrive at Melbourne Airport at 10:30 AM local time tomorrow. This would have given it a duration of 19 hours. However, at the time of writing, its estimated time of arrival in Australia had been pushed back to 11:39 AM, meaning that it stands to be in the air for more than 20 hours. As such, this will be a true test of its ultra-long-haul nous.

After reaching Egypt, the jet crossed Saudi Arabia and Oman, before heading out over the Arabian Sea towards the southern tip of India. By this point, it still had around 12 hours left to run. However, such endurance is very much what the Airbus A350-1000ULR is built around, with an additional rear center tank allowing it to fly an extra 1,000 NM (1,852 km). Qantas will also fit it with relatively few seats.

Indeed, while not quite as much of a low-density affair as Singapore Airlines’ all-premium Airbus A350-900ULRs that serve New York JFK and Newark (EWR) from Singapore Changi Airport (SIN) on a nonstop basis, Qantas has still prioritized space and comfort. All in all, it plans to fit 238 seats in its Airbus A350-1000ULRs: six in first class, 52 in business class, 40 in premium economy, and 140 in economy.

The A350-1000ULR Will Revolutionize Qantas’s Nonstop European Operations

Credit: Airbus

Qantas ultimately intends to launch Project Sunrise flights in October 2027, with Sydney Kingsford Smith Airport (SYD) to London Heathrow (LHR) being the first to get the nonstop treatment. This will represent a considerable step up in terms of range compared to its current offering when it comes to nonstop flights between Australia and Europe. Indeed, these currently have to fly from Perth (PER).

The carrier previously flew from Perth to London Heathrow and Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport (CDG) on a nonstop basis using the Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner. However, the longer routing necessitated by the Iran War prompted it to add a stop in Singapore for the London flights, and re-route the Paris ones to Sydney (also via Singapore). As such, Rome (FCO) is its only current nonstop European route.