FTEs at Airbus Perform Longest Manned Test Flight

Airbus further pushed the boundaries of large commercial aircraft flight testing on July 28 2026 by completing its longest ever manned test flight, 24 hours and 24 minutes in the air! The mammoth flight was part of ongoing development activities for the A350-1000 ULR, the aircraft being produced for Qantas to allow them to operate direct services between Sydney and London, known as Project Sunrise. A total of 3 Airbus test pilots, 2 Qantas pilots and 5 Airbus flight test engineers operated the aircraft. During the flight, which covered 12460NM, and routed from Melbourne (Australia) over the Pacific, the North American continent and the Atlantic before touching down in Toulouse, the crew evaluated fuel system and air conditioning performance, both of these having been modified on the ULR. It was also the chance to assess human factors aspects, such as fatigue management, as well as the long-duration/distance operation of otherwise unmodified aircraft systems, such as the FMS.