Two sunrises, one full day: Airbus’ 24-hour flight breaks Guinness distance record
An Airbus A350-1000ULR, the ultra-long range variant built for Qantas, has broken the airliner distance record after more than 24 hours aloft. The jet will carry passengers non-stop between Sydney and London from October 2027, with the Australian airline promising to cut up to four hours from the journey.
The A350-1000ULR covered a whopping 23,155km in 24 hours and 24 minutes, flying from Melbourne, Australia, to Toulouse-Blagnac, France, back on 27–28 July. Airbus announced its recognition as a Guinness World Record on 9 November, following independent validation by the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI) and Flightradar24.
Two sunrises, one @GWR title! 🌅 Our #A350-1000ULR has officially set the record for the longest commercial aircraft flight by distance for @Qantas’ #ProjectSunrise: – Melbourne → Toulouse – 12,503 nm (23,155 km) – 24h 24m Congrats #TeamAirbus on this historic achievement! 🤩 https://t.co/iKHdEhPLyU
— Airbus (@Airbus) November 9, 2026
Just 13 people were aboard the test flight in July, including five pilots, flight engineers and a record-verification official.
The aircraft is being developed for Qantas’s Project Sunrise. The airline is aiming to put the A350-1000ULR on a non-stop Sydney–London service from October 2027, promising to cut up to four hours from the current journey.
Qantas expects to take delivery of the aircraft in April 2027.
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What 22 hours aboard will look like
Qantas’s passenger layout has 238 seats across four cabins:
First-class passengers get a separate bed and reclining armchair. Economy remains nine seats across, with 42 Economy Plus seats offering a 34-inch pitch — the spacing between equivalent points on successive rows.
| Cabin | Seats | Layout |
|---|---|---|
| First | 6 | 1–1–1 |
| Business | 52 | 1–2–1 |
| Premium economy | 40 | 2–4–2 |
| Economy | 140 | 3–3–3 |
Every cabin will have a stretching area between premium economy and economy with support handles, guided exercises, and refreshments. A screen-based journey planner shows meal and rest times and cabin lighting.
How the Airbus A350 stayed aloft
Flight AIB35LR took the long way to France: past Sydney, across the Pacific towards Los Angeles, over North America and across the Atlantic before passing London and reaching Toulouse, according to Flightradar.
Read more: Uzbekistan’s Qanot Sharq becomes Central Asia’s first A321XLR operator
It surpassed a Boeing 777-200LR flight from Hong Kong to London in November 2005, which covered 21,601km in 22 hours and 42 minutes.
