The Qantas Project Sunrise aircraft will land in Australia today, after making a 20-plus hour direct flight from the French factory.
The specially modified Airbus A350-1000ULR is expected to land in Melbourne on Friday after conducting a flight test designed to push its range capabilities.
It is equipped with an additional 20,000 liter fuel tank, extending the flight range to over 18,000 km.
Airbus aircraft are designed to fly non-stop for up to 22 hours, the longest commercial flights in the world, and will connect Australia with London and New York directly.
When active in the Qantas fleet, the A350-1000 ULR will be able to fly direct between Sydney and London, either flying over parts of Eurasia, across Europe or over the Pacific and then the North Pole.
The fastest flight from Sydney to London will be 19 hours and 25 minutes, and the slowest is about 21 hours, Qantas officials have said. From London to Sydney, it will take between 18-20 hours.
Flight times would vary “day to day” and be “highly affected by wind,” Qantas chief technical pilot Alex Passerini told a conference in Toulouse in June.
The plane, which is still in its basic range, is being flown to Melbourne by four Airbus test pilots, and five flight test engineers, who will put the “aircraft systems through their paces”. Two Qantas pilots will join the Airbus test crew for the flight back to France.
The plane completed its first flight on June 2, 2026. In the weeks since, Airbus test teams have conducted extensive tests on the ground and in the air in Toulouse, including the plane’s redesigned fuel system.
Sydneysiders feeling disappointed in the first flight of Project Sunrise, don’t despair. The Project Sunrise flight is expected to start flying between London and Sydney from October 2027.
There are currently no plans to schedule Project Sunrise routes to and from Melbourne.
More to come
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Chris Zappone is a senior writer covering aviation and business issues. He is a former foreign digital editor.Connect through X, Facebook or email address.
