Record 24-hour flight makes history as Qantas plane lands in France

Qantas’ new Airbus aircraft has made history with a flight lasting over 24 hours, crossing three continents and two oceans, experiencing two sunsets and two sunrises along the way. It is believed to be the longest-ever direct commercial flight.

The unprecedented journey was made by aircraft MSN707, a model of the Airbus A350-1000ULR, during trials for Qantas’ upcoming Project Sunrise services.

The plane, which was not carrying any passengers, took off from Melbourne, Australia, and 24 hours and 24 minutes later, it touched down in Toulouse, France, on the morning of 28 July after covering 12,460 nautical miles.

This journey was a return flight to Toulouse, as the ultra-long-haul plane had flown from Airbus’ Toulouse manufacturing facility to Melbourne a few days earlier, with that journey lasting over 19 hours.

The return leg was longer due to a different flight path being chosen, which involved taking off from Melbourne, crossing the Pacific toward Los Angeles, across the US and Canada, and then crossing the Atlantic south of Greenland. It then passed over the UK and finished the journey in southern France.

Airbus Test Pilot Xavier Pepin, who captained the aircraft, said: “To manage fatigue during the 20 to 23-hour flights, we implemented four-hour shifts for each pilot, but we rotated the crew every two hours.

“This staggered approach ensures that when a new pilot joins the cockpit, they overlap for two hours with the outgoing pilot.”

Tests are being carried out ahead of Qantas launching the “Project Sunrise” services between Sydney and London in October 2027, which will be the longest non-stop commercial flight in the world at 10,573 miles.

The current longest flight in the world is Singapore Airlines’ flight from its hub to New York JFK at 9,537 miles, which takes around 19 hours.

The goal of the Project Sunrise test flights is to demonstrate that the aircraft, powered by two Rolls-Royce Trent XWB-97 engines, can perform a 23-hour “block time” flight.

This is to ensure that the plane has coverage for Qantas’ intended 21-hour and 40-minute flight time between London and Sydney.

During the flights, the crew tested the additional 20,000-litre fuel tank, which allows the plane to fly commercially non-stop, as well as the air conditioning systems and the crew rest compartments.

Once the non-stop service goes on sale, the airline said it will save customers up to four hours compared with the fastest service today, which has to make a stop.

Tickets for the first Sydney to London services will go on sale in February 2027.

Read more: New Qantas plane touches down in Australia after historic 19-hour test flight