The planes have been designed to fly up to 22 hours nonstop for the company\u2019s Sydney<\/a> to London direct route, expected to start in October 2027.<\/p>\n The test flight has attracted attention from transport enthusiasts, with more than 67,000 people following its almost 17,000km path on flightradar24.com<\/a> on Friday morning \u2013 the most-watched flight globally on Friday.<\/p>\n The air traffic website indicates the flight departed Toulouse at 7.33am on Thursday, local time. It landed in Melbourne<\/a> just over 19 hours later, at 10.46am, local time.<\/p>\n Flightradar24 showing the route of a non-stop test flight from Toulouse to Melbourne of a new Qantas Airbus A350\u20131000ULR. Photograph: Flightradar24<\/p>\n In a statement, Qantas said four Airbus<\/a> flight test pilots and five flight test engineers were operating the model\u2019s test. They and the aircraft will stay in Melbourne over the weekend then depart for Toulouse on Monday, with two Qantas pilots joining them on board.<\/p>\n Qantas\u2019 chief technical pilot, Alex Passerini, told Channel Seven on Friday the return flight would take 23 hours, as the crew tested systems from fuel transfer to air conditioning.<\/p>\n skip past newsletter promotion<\/a>Free newsletter | Every weekday<\/p>\n Sign up to Morning Mail<\/p>\n Our Australian morning briefing breaks down the key stories of the day, telling you what\u2019s happening and why it matters<\/p>\n after newsletter promotion<\/p>\n Passerini said crews would be able to take regular rest breaks on the plane, aligned with the airline\u2019s \u201cdata-driven\u201d systems.<\/p>\n \u201cEveryone\u2019s going to get tired,\u201d Passerini said.<\/p>\n Qantas said the plane in flight was the first of its model to take to the skies. The A350\u20131000ULR was first flown on 2 June, for three hours 43 minutes over France and the French Atlantic coast, and has since undergone extensive testing.<\/p>\n The test model is not carrying Qantas\u2019s official white and red livery. It has a tan exterior carrying company branding, with Qantas logos on its wingtips.<\/p>\n The company said the first A350-1000ULR painted in the Qantas livery, named Vega, is still on the assembly line and will be delivered to Qantas in April 2027.<\/p>\n The A350\u20131000ULR\u2019s extra 20,000-litre fuel tank enables it to fly ultra long-haul routes of almost 10,000 nautical miles (18,500km), according to Airbus<\/a>. Qantas in June said it was buying 12 aircraft with 238 seats rather than the 300-plus seats on other A350-1000 models.<\/p>\n Qantas\u2019s Project Sunrise plans for nonstop services between Sydney and London have been delayed multiple times<\/a> in previous years.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1784862016_340_500.jpg\")
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