Qantas A350 Test Flight Receives Guinness Distance Record

An Airbus A350-1000ULR developed for Qantas has received Guinness World Records recognition for the longest flight by distance by a commercial airliner, Airbus announced on November 9. The Airbus-operated test flight covered 23,155 kilometres, or 12,503 nautical miles, between Melbourne and Toulouse on July 27–28, spending 24 hours and 24 minutes airborne. The flight formed part of testing for Qantas’ Project Sunrise aircraft. Airbus said the campaign required a sector with a 23-hour block time, measured from departure pushback to arrival at the stand, to simulate the aircraft’s longest intended operations. Its route crossed the Pacific toward Los Angeles, continued across North America and the Atlantic, and passed London before reaching Toulouse. Thirteen people were aboard, including Airbus and Qantas pilots, flight-test and design engineers, and an International Aeronautical Federation representative. Airbus said aircraft data validated the distance, with independent validation involving the federation and Flightradar24. Lars Wagner, Airbus’ chief executive for commercial aircraft, said: “And the world record was the icing on the cake!” The aircraft has an additional rear centre fuel tank that Airbus says extends its range by 1,000 nautical miles. Qantas has ordered 12 A350-1000ULRs for planned nonstop Sydney–London and Sydney–New York services, which Airbus describes as routes approaching 10,000 nautical miles with flight times of up to 22 hours. Airbus said the first delivery is scheduled for April 2027, with Sydney–London service planned later that year.