Airbus A350-1000ULR Sets Distance Record on Test Flight

Airbus says an A350-1000ULR test flight from Melbourne to Toulouse set a Guinness World Record for the longest distance flown by a commercial airliner, covering 12,503 nautical miles in 24 hours and 24 minutes.

The aircraft departed Melbourne on July 27, 2026, and landed in Toulouse the following morning. Airbus reported the distance as 14,388 miles, or 23,155 kilometers. The flight was part of the company’s test campaign for Qantas’s Project Sunrise, not a passenger service.

Airbus said the aircraft data used to establish the record were validated by the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale and Flightradar24. The two organizations’ validation concerned the flight data; Airbus announced the record.

The route took the aircraft across the Pacific and North America before crossing the Atlantic and continuing over London to Toulouse. Airbus said the flight crossed three continents and two oceans. Thirteen people were aboard, including Airbus and Qantas pilots, Airbus flight-test and design engineers, and a representative of the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale.

The flight was designed to test the aircraft on a journey comparable to the longest operations it is expected to...