A Qantas Airbus 350-1000ULR has set the distance record for a commercial route: from Melbourne to Toulouse via three continents, two oceans and London, observing two sunsets and two sunrises. It is the state of the art of very long haul connections, no stopovers and more gymnastics on board
Over an internal day spent in flight for an Airbus A350-1000ULR delivered to the Australian company Qantas which thus set the world distance record for a commercial route. The aircraft is of the Ultra-Long Range (very long range) variant and the data collected during this flight were validated by the International Aeronautics Federation and online tracking sites, bodies that verified every aspect of the undertaking for over three months.
With the identification code AIB-35LR, the aircraft took off from Melbourne on Monday 27 July at 17:27 local time to land in Toulouse, France, on Tuesday 28 July at 9:51, covering the distance of 23,155 kilometers in 24 hours and 24 minutes. The mission was conducted as part of the testing campaign of the A350-1000ULR, developed for Qantas Airways in the framework of the so-called “Sunrise Project” which includes, among the requirements, the execution of a route with a total duration of at least 23 hours (from departure from the airport gate to arrival at the stopping point), in order to simulate the longer commercial routes that will be made possible by this aircraft.
After taking off from Melbourne, the Airbus flew over Sydney and then headed towards the Pacific Ocean, following a northeasterly course towards Los Angeles and crossing the date line. Subsequently, it flew over the North American continent and the Atlantic Ocean, before heading south towards the United Kingdom, flying over London before arriving in Toulouse.
The crew of the Airbus plane
During the journey, which therefore touched three continents and two oceans, the crew was able to observe two sunsets and two sunrises. There were a total of 13 people on board, a crew made up of test pilots Xavier Pepin, Vincent Sibelle And Josef Bayoud; Qantas pilots Andrew Coull And David Summergreene; flight engineers Laurent Rossignol And Nicolas Granier; flight test engineers Tuan Do, Alexia Plumet And Jaime Angoloti and the designers of Airbus Stefan Gumm And Carsten Obermann.
The International Aeronautical Federation was represented by Gilles Darriau. Lars WagnerChief Executive Officer Commercial Aircraft at Airbus, said: «This achievement reflects the pioneering and innovative spirit that is part of the company’s DNA. Accepting the challenge launched by Qantas, our engineers have joined forces to extend the range of the A350-1000 in an efficient and economically sustainable way, allowing it to carry out the longest commercial flights in history. With a non-stop flight of over 12,503 nautical miles, we fully demonstrated the aircraft’s ability to fulfill its mission. My warmest congratulations to all the Airbus teams who made this project possible. Thanks go to Qantas for an extraordinary partnership that has allowed us to push boundaries together, to Rolls-Royce for their full support and to all our partners who have contributed to this exciting moment in aviation history. Today we can say that the A350 is, in all respects, the undisputed long-haul leader.”
How to tackle this record-breaking journey
The aircraft will soon allow Qantas Airways to operate, for the first time in history, non-stop flights between Sydney and London and between Sydney and New York, a distance of over 18,000 km miles with a duration of up to 22 hours. This is made possible, mainly, by the integration into the aircraft structure of an additional central-rear tank which further enhances the aircraft’s performance and increases its range by almost two thousand kilometres.
The ‘1000ULR’ variant is the fourth passenger variant of the A350 family and joins the -900, -900ULR and -1000 models which, together, have set new standards in long-haul aviation, offering significant reductions in fuel consumption and carbon emissions, as well as increased levels of comfort. At the end of October 2026, the A350 Family had 1,628 orders (12 from Qantas) from 70 customers, with more than 740 aircraft already in service with 42 operators.
Among the precautions intended for passengers, on very long-haul flights, moments dedicated to physical exercises will be recommended to prevent the health risks associated with persistent sitting, such as deep vein thrombosis, muscle fatigue, dehydration, tiredness and obviously increasing physiological needs.
