An Airbus A350-1000ULR built for Qantas flew 14,388 miles in 24 hours and 24 minutes, watching two sunrises on the way from Australia to France.

Published 10 Nov 2026, 15:53 GMT

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The Airbus A350-1000ULR built for Qantas in flight — Airbus A350-1000ULR for Qantas

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A test flight lasting more than 24 hours has earned an Airbus A350-1000ULR built for Qantas a Guinness World Record for covering the greatest distance without stopping in a commercial airliner.

Airbus announced on Monday, November 9, that the ultra-long-range aircraft covered 12,503 nautical miles — about 14,388 miles or 23,155 kilometres — between Melbourne, Australia, and Toulouse, France.

The marathon journey lasted 24 hours and 24 minutes after departing Melbourne at 5:27 pm local time on July 27 and touching down in southern France at 9:51 am the next day.

From Sydney, the aircraft took a north-easterly course over the Pacific towards Los Angeles, then continued across the North American continent and the Atlantic. It passed over London en route to Toulouse.

For the 13 people aboard, the journey offered an unusual sight: two sunsets and two sunrises before they reached their destination in France.

The crew comprised three Airbus test pilots, two Qantas pilots, seven Airbus engineers and an observer from the International Aeronautical Federation (FAI), which validated the data alongside Flightradar24 for Guinness World Records.

Lars Wagner, Chief Executive Officer for Commercial Aircraft at Airbus, said the flight proved the modified airliner could handle the world's longest commercial routes.

"Flying 12,503 nautical miles non-stop, we have fully proven the aircraft's capability to fulfil its mission."

"And the world record was the icing on the cake!" Wagner said.

Equipped with an extra 20,900-litre rear centre fuel tank and Rolls-Royce Trent XWB-97 engines, the specialised Airbus aircraft for long-range operations adds roughly 1,000 nautical miles of range over the standard A350-1000.

Qantas has ordered 12 of the jets under its "Project Sunrise" programme to launch non-stop passenger flights of up to 22 hours from Sydney to London in October 2027, followed by Sydney to New York in 2028.

To make nearly a full day in the air bearable, Qantas is fitting only 238 seats per plane and adding a dedicated cabin "wellbeing zone" where passengers can stretch and hydrate.

Araba IncoomAraba Incoom writes on multiple topics with a vast knowledge across different sector. You can almost call me an AI, after all, my initials are Araba Incoom.

Airbus jet flies 24 hours non-stop from Melbourne to Toulouse to break Guinness record

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