Qantas plane lands in Australia after 19-hour non-stop test flight from France – National
Qantas’s A350-1000ULR, a plane designed to fly from London, UK, to Sydney, Australia, completed a significant flight on Friday after flying non-stop for almost 20 hours.
The first A350-1000ULR to take to the skies arrived in Melbourne on Friday, following a long test flight from the Airbus production facility in Toulouse, France, the airline said in a statement.
The aircraft was operated by four Airbus test pilots and five test engineers, who were tasked with installing the aircraft’s systems in flight, including a 20,000 liter fuel tank that allowed it to fly non-stop for up to 22 hours.
The return flight to Toulouse will depart from Melbourne on July 27 as part of the flight test programme. Two Qantas pilots will be on board for the return flight to France, the company said.
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The Sydney-based airline launched the first of its specially-equipped Airbus A350-1000 aircraft that will regularly cover the 17,015km journey from London to Sydney last month, with the flight between the two cities expected to take 19 to 22 hours.
The current longest non-stop flight in the world is the Singapore Airlines route between the city center and New York City. A distance of 15,349 km is flown in less than 19 hours.
The main difference between the airlines is that Singapore’s does not cater to economy passengers.
While the standard Airbus A350-1000 can carry up to 480 passengers, Qantas’ A350-1000ULR will carry 238, with 140 of those in the so-called “cattle class” on flights between London and Sydney, with all passengers given access to the Wellbeing Zone to stretch your legs and pamper yourself. First, Business, and Premium Economy tickets will be available for purchase.
Currently, the furthest an economy passenger can fly on a direct flight is on a Qantas flight from London to Perth on Australia’s west coast. The 14,499-km journey takes between 16 and 18 hours. Sydney is on the east coast of Australia, about 4,000 kilometers from Perth.
The Australian company plans to start selling tickets for its non-stop flight in February, CEO Vanessa Hudson said at an event in Toulouse, France, in June, Reuters reported.
While there will be no direct flight to Sydney from any of Canada’s major cities, the airline will offer flights from New York to Sydney using modified Airbus A350-1000ULR jets capable of flying up to 22 hours with 238 passengers as part of the company’s “Project Sunrise”.
Crew members stand at the door of Qantas’ Airbus A350-1000ULR before a test flight from Toulouse to Sydney.
Qantas
The project is part of a revamp that began in 2017 when Qantas challenged Airbus and Boeing to build planes capable of long-haul, non-stop routes from Australia.
The aim is to reduce what was once a five-day trip on the “Kangaroo Route” to London to one hop of 19 to 21 hours, depending on the route and the wind.
Qantas will operate polar routes around a quarter of the time, mainly during the northern winter. The journey now takes about 24 to 25 hours via Singapore.
The first aircraft, named Vega, will be delivered in April 2027. From October, Qantas will operate daily non-stop flights from London to Sydney.
-via files from the Associated Press and Reuters
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