Australia’s flagship carrier Qantas has moved one significant step closer to launching the world’s longest commercial non-stop passenger flights, after completing the maiden test flight of its custom-built ultra-long-range Airbus jet this week. The milestone comes even as global supply chain headwinds have pushed back initial delivery timelines, with the airline still on track to launch the revolutionary service by 2027.
The test aircraft, an A350-1000ULR (ultra-long-range) modified specifically for Qantas’ Project Sunrise initiative, departed from Airbus’ industrial hub in Toulouse, France, at local time Tuesday afternoon. The four-hour test flight, operated by an Airbus flight test crew, climbed to a cruising altitude of more than 41,000 feet, successfully validating the jet’s new extended-range fuel system and core performance capabilities. This aircraft is the second of 12 custom ULR jets Airbus is building for Qantas, and will now enter the outfitting phase to install Qantas’ exclusive four-class cabin layout.
The ULR variant of the A350-1000 features purpose-built modifications designed to extend its maximum range: an additional fuel tank that adds 1,800 kilometers of flying distance, paired with lighter, more energy-efficient galley refrigeration systems to cut unnecessary weight and maximize range. These adaptations will allow the jet to complete non-stop flights of up to 22 hours, a capability no commercial airliner serving Qantas’ routes has held to date.
Per Qantas’ announcement, the successful maiden test flight kicks off a two-month global flight testing campaign that will accumulate around 80 hours of in-air validation, alongside extensive ground inspections and certification checks for all the redesigned and custom components built into the jets. The first finished jet is still scheduled for handover to Qantas in April 2027, after Airbus confirmed last week that supply chain disruptions had delayed initial delivery by four months. A Qantas spokesperson confirmed that following the first delivery, four additional aircraft will arrive in quick succession, putting the entire delivery program back on its original schedule by November 2027.
The second ULR jet, earmarked as the first to be delivered to Qantas, is already in advanced final assembly and will exit Airbus’ paint shop in the coming days, before proceeding to cabin outfitting and engine installation. Meanwhile, Qantas has already begun training future pilots to operate the new jets at full-flight simulators based in Sydney, to prepare for commercial launch once deliveries are complete. By the end of this month, Qantas has said it will confirm the exact launch routes and commercial service timeline for the new non-stop flights.
Project Sunrise, first announced by Qantas in 2017, is the airline’s decades-long initiative to launch non-stop service from Australia’s populous east coast to major global hubs London and New York. Currently, the airline’s longest non-stop route runs between Perth and London at approximately 18 hours of flight time. The new service will cut total travel time by roughly four hours for passengers departing east coast Australian hubs like Sydney and Melbourne, eliminating the need for a layover en route.
Once launched, Qantas’ new routes will claim the title of the world’s longest commercial non-stop flights, overtaking the two current record-holders operated by Singapore Airlines, which run from New York and Newark, New Jersey, to Singapore. Qantas already holds three spots on the global list of top 10 longest non-stop routes, with its Perth-London, Melbourne-Dallas, and Paris-Perth services ranking fourth, fifth and sixth respectively, and the Auckland-New York service (shared with Air New Zealand) ranking seventh. The new ultra-long-range jets are part of Qantas’ broader $15 billion national fleet renewal program, designed to modernize its long-haul network and open new non-stop connections between Australia and major global destinations.