Project Sunrise ☀️

On 23–24 July 2026 the first A350-1000ULR built for Qantas flew non-stop from Airbus’ factory in Toulouse to Melbourne, around 17,000 km in just over 19 hours, touching down at 10:46 local time. Registered F-WULR, it carried nine crew: four Airbus test pilots and five flight-test engineers. More than 67,000 people tracked it live on Flightradar24, making it the most-watched flight in the world that day.

The flight tested the systems that make ultra-long-haul possible, fuel transfer and air conditioning chief among them. The return leg to Toulouse, leaving Melbourne on 27 July with two Qantas pilots joining the Airbus crew, is expected to take around 23 hours. Melbourne was a proving ground only; there’s no word yet on whether it will get a scheduled Project Sunrise service of its own.

The ULR, ultra-long-range, is a modified A350-1000. Its defining change is an extra 20,000-litre rear centre fuel tank, which pushes range to roughly 18,500 km and enables flights of up to 22 hours. It also gains a higher maximum take-off weight and structural reinforcement to carry it.

Qantas has ordered 12, each fitted with just 238 seats against the 300-plus of a standard A350-1000, the lowest seat count of any A350-1000 in service. The space goes to comfort: six first-class suites Qantas likens to “mini boutique hotel rooms,” 52 business suites, 40 premium economy, 140 economy, and a wellbeing zone between cabins with stretch handles, hydration and on-screen movement programmes for the 20-hour haul.

The first aircraft in full Qantas livery, named Vega, is still on the assembly line, with delivery expected in April 2027. The Melbourne test jet wears a tan scheme with Qantas branding on the wingtips rather than the red-and-white.

2017, Qantas issues the Project Sunrise challenge: link eastern Australia to London and New York non-stop. Airbus answers with the A350-1000ULR.

2018, The Perth–London route opens on a Boeing 787-9, non-stop at around 17 hours. It becomes Qantas’ ultra-long-haul proving ground.

COVID era, The programme slips as production, certification and supply chains are disrupted.

Late 2025, The first ULR airframe rolls out of the factory.

2 June 2026, Maiden flight from Toulouse: 3 hours 43 minutes over France and the Atlantic coast, beginning a roughly two-month, ~80-hour certification campaign.

June 2026, Airbus confirms first delivery slips from late 2026 to April 2027.

23–24 July 2026, First flight to Australia: Toulouse–Melbourne non-stop in ~19 hours.

February 2027, Tickets for the inaugural non-stop Sydney–London flights due to go on sale.

April 2027, Vega, the first liveried aircraft, expected to be handed over.

October 2027, Planned launch of scheduled non-stop Sydney–London service. Sydney–New York flagged as the likely next step once London is established.

Sydney–London non-stop would be the longest scheduled passenger flight in the world, going several hours beyond today’s benchmark, Singapore Airlines’ Singapore–New York, at around 18 hours, and on a larger, purpose-built aircraft. Qantas says it will save passengers up to four hours versus the fastest one-stop option today.

The strategic logic is bypass. For years the A380 and 787 let hub carriers like Emirates, Etihad and Qatar Airways flood the Europe–Australia market via their home stopovers. Flying direct lets Qantas, in CEO Vanessa Hudson’s words, “compete on our own terms” rather than through a rival’s hub.

The hard problem was never just distance, it’s keeping people and crew well for 20 hours. Qantas ran years of research flights studying the effects of ultra-long-haul on the body before committing, which is why the cabin trades seats for space and adds a wellbeing zone.