An Airbus A350 modified for ultra‑long‑range operations completed a 24‑hour‑and‑24‑minute non‑stop flight from Melbourne to Toulouse, covering more than 23,000 km. The demonstration precedes delivery of Qantas’s first A350‑1000ULR next year. Crew rotations used four‑hour shifts with two‑hour handovers to manage fatigue, and an Airbus test pilot remained in the cockpit whenever a Qantas pilot occupied the other seat. The flight beat the 2005 demonstration record by nearly two hours; Guinness recognition is pending.
Airbus A350 Sets New Endurance Mark — 24h 24m Non-Stop Flight From Melbourne To Toulouse
FILE PHOTO - The new Qantas Airbus A350-1000 arrives at Sydney Domestic Airport. (is associated with: «Airbus sets record with 24-hour Melbourne-Toulouse non-stop flight») Bianca De Marchi/AAP/dpa
An Airbus A350 specially modified for ultra-long-range operations has set a new demonstration endurance milestone, flying non‑stop from Melbourne to Toulouse in 24 hours and 24 minutes.
The aircraft covered more than 23,000 kilometres without refuelling before touching down in southern France on Tuesday. The flight was carried out as a demonstration ahead of the scheduled delivery of the first A350-1000ULR to Qantas, expected next year.
How The Crew Managed The Flight
Test pilot and captain Xavier Pepin described the crew-rest plan used to manage fatigue on ultra-long sectors: "To manage fatigue during the 20 to 23-hour flights we implemented four-hour shifts for each pilot, but we rotated the crew every two hours." This staggered rotation smoothed handovers and helped the crew maintain "full situational awareness," he added.
Pepin: "One Airbus test pilot was always seated in a pilot seat when a Qantas pilot occupied the other seat to ensure mission safety, as Airbus retained operational responsibility for the flight."
Record Context And Next Steps
The demonstration flight exceeded the previous demonstration-flight endurance mark — a Hong Kong to London flight in 2005 — by almost two hours. It is not yet clear whether Guinness World Records will formally recognise the achievement.
Qantas has ordered 12 specially modified A350-1000ULR jets for Project Sunrise (ULR = Ultra Long Range). The airline plans to launch the world’s first scheduled non-stop services from Sydney to London in October 2027, with direct flights to New York to follow; depending on weather, those commercial sectors are expected to take between 19 and 21 hours.
Flight-tracking service Flightradar24 reported that more than 3.6 million people followed the aircraft’s progress live, making it one of the most-watched flights in aviation history.
Why It Matters: The demonstration validates the A350-1000ULR’s range capability and operational concepts for ultra‑long‑haul commercial services, supporting Qantas’s Project Sunrise ambitions and the wider market for nonstop megalong routes.
Help us improve.
