Overview
- An Airbus A350‑1000ULR, registered MSN707, flew a nonstop return test that lasted just over 24 hours and covered about 12,460 nautical miles as part of Project Sunrise trials.
- Crew used and monitored a roughly 20,000‑litre rear centre fuel tank while engineers recorded hundreds of sensors to check fuel transfer and environmental‑control systems.
- Airbus test pilot Xavier Pepin described staggered four‑hour pilot shifts with two‑hour overlaps to manage fatigue and the trial validated crew rest layouts and procedures for ultra‑long sectors.
- Airbus and Qantas are now analysing the flight data and will submit results to civil aviation regulators as further test sorties, certification work and supply‑chain steps continue.
- Qantas says the ULR service would cut up to about four hours from current one‑stop journey times if certified and delivered under its planned timetable for ticketing and launch in 2027, though operations remain conditional on approvals.