Melbourne to France trip breaks world record for longest flight

A flight from Australia has been officially declared the world’s longest ever commercial flight.

Airbus confirmed overnight that its whopping 24 hour and 24 minute test flight of Qantas’ new A350-1000ULR officially broke the Guinness World Record for the longest flight by distance by a commercial airliner, when travelling from Melbourne to France non-stop in July.

Flight AIB35LR covered a distance of 12,503 nautical miles, which is equivalent to 23,155km.

The aircraft – which will be used for Qantas’ first non-stop flights from Sydney to London from October next year – took off from Melbourne on July 27 at 5.27pm and flew over Sydney before heading out over the Pacific on a north-easterly routing towards Los Angeles.

It then flew across the North American continent and over the Atlantic before heading south towards the UK, flying over London and then landing in Toulouse in southwestern France on July 28 at 9.51am.

At the time, live flight tracking platform Flightradar24 confirmed 3,652,947 total follows, making it the second most tracked flight ever.

It stole that record from itself after first claiming the second most-watched title on its 19 hour, 12 minute journey from Toulouse to Melbourne the week before.

The most tracked flight ever remains Queen Elizabeth II’s final flight carrying her coffin from Edinburgh to London in 2022.

There were three Airbus flight test pilots, two pilots from Qantas, five Airbus flight test engineers and two Airbus design engineers on board the record-breaking July flight – as well as a representative of the International Aeronautical* Federation.

The crew witnessed two sunsets and two sunrises on the mammoth journey.

Airbus’ CEO of commercial aircraft Lars Wagner congratulated his team and thanked Qantas for the partnership when announcing the record on Tuesday.

“Flying 12,503 nautical miles non-stop, we have fully proven the aircraft’s capability to fulfil its mission,” he said. “And the world record was the icing on the cake.”

PROJECT SUNRISE
The Airbus A350-1000ULR has been custom designed for Qantas to fly Australians on the east coast non-stop to London and New York.

The ambitious plan was dubbed Project Sunrise and has been years in the making.

Qantas first announced Project Sunrise in 2017, and then ordered 12 custom designed A350-1000ULR aircraft from Airbus in 2022.

The first aircraft was supposed to be delivered this year, but the delivery date has been delayed until April 2027. After the first aircraft is delivered, the remaining 11 will follow over the next two and a half years.

The record test flights earlier this year were significant in testing the jet’s specialised fuel system, which includes an additional 20,000 litre rear centre fuel tank that other A350-1000s do not have. The extra fuel tank will allow the aircraft to fly commercially non-stop for up to 22 hours.

While the milestone test flights landed and took off from Melbourne, there has been no indication when the city could actually get the non-stop flights for real.

News.com.au was at Airbus headquarters in Toulouse in June when Qantas CEO Vanessa Hudson announced the first Project Sunrise route would be Sydney-London. Flights go on sale in February and take off in October next year.

In September, Ms Hudson was in the Big Apple to announce Sydney-New York flights would take off in mid-2028.

SYDNEY TO LONDON VIA THE NORTH POLE
Qantas’ chief technical pilot Alex Passerini revealed an unusual flight path for the non-stop Sydney-London flight.

The new “north polar flight path” will be used for about 20 per cent of the flights, particularly during the northern winter.

It may seem strange for the airline to choose the long way to London in terms of distance, but by avoiding winds at certain times of the year and with less air traffic, it can actually end up being faster.

Mr Passerini explained to news.com.au at Airbus headquarters in France that there are airlines that traverse* the North Pole region today, but this will be a first for a commercial airline out of Australia.

“The whole approach is very different to what we’re used to,” he said.

“At the end of the day, we’re flying over the North Pacific, Alaska, Greenland, Iceland and into London from the north, which, you know, you really have to stop and have a think about that.”

“There’s different air space we traverse, slightly different procedures, there’s some different things to think about in the polar region. Things like communications and space weather,” Mr Passerini said. “We go around the South Pole area on our flights to South America, so we’re familiar with the South Pole region, but this is new for us as the North Pole region.”

From Qantas’ planning so far, the fastest flight time from Sydney to London would be 19 hours and 25 minutes, and the slowest would be 20 hours and 55 minutes.

FLIGHT WILL TURN DARK FOR 12 HOURS
Passengers will cross between nine and 11 time zones on the journey to London and a whopping 14 to 16 on the New York flight, depending on the time of year.

Stuck in a plane for 21 hours and crossing time zones faster than their internal clocks*, there is a lot to consider regarding the health of these future customers.

There is the challenge of sleep deprivation* or mistimed sleep, fatigue and jet lag, long periods of immobility and potential dehydration.

Qantas called on the expertise of Peter Cistulli, a professor of sleep medicine at the University of Sydney’s Charles Perkins Centre, to help.

Prof Cistulli explained that the traditional aeroplane model was to get passengers onto the aircraft safely, feed them, turn the lights out, then wake them up and feed them again.

But an optimised approach involved deliberately timing meals and sleep.

He said the strength of lighting, the colour and timing was “very important” in influencing our circadian* clock, as well as what meals were served up and when.

“Light is the strongest environmental cue for the body clock,” he said.

Qantas decided on 12 lighting scenes for the A350-1000ULR, including a sunrise and sunset that gradually roll through the cabin, to help customers adjust.

Passengers can expect a huge 12 hour window of darkness to encourage sleep on the Sydney-London flight.

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GLOSSARY

• aeronautical: the design, building and flying of aeroplanes
• traverse: travel across or pass through
• internal clocks: the body clock set by our brain which tells us when it’s time to be awake and when it’s time to be asleep
• sleep deprivation: a condition where you don’t get enough sleep and it affects your physical health and mental function
• circadian clock: the body clock, which is regulated by external cues, especially light and darkness, that tell it when to release hormones that bring on sleep and wakefulness

EXTRA READING
Dad back home after 28-year walk
New gateway to Australia unveiled
100 years since Qantas was born on a long drive

QUICK QUIZ
1. What was the starting point and the destination of the world’s longest commercial flight?
2. How many nautical miles did the flight travel?
3. What was the most tracked flight ever?
4. What is one major consideration regarding the health of passengers that Qantas has taken on board with Project Sunrise?
5. What is the benefit of taking the north polar flight path?

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CLASSROOM ACTIVITIES
1. What are the challenges?
What do you think would be the challenges for the pilots and cabin crew of such a long flight? Write a list for each group. Next to each challenge, write a suggestion that could help them to manage it.

Time: Spend at least 20 minutes on this activity
Curriculum Links: English, Health and Physical Education

2. Extension
‘How can something so big that it can carry over 20,000 litres of fuel stay up in the air?’

Do you know how planes actually stay up in the air? Write down your ideas. Then, use your research skills to see how right you are!

Use all of the information to create an infographic showing younger kids how big, heavy planes can fly.

Time: Spend at least 60 minutes on this activity
Curriculum Links: English, Design and Technologies, Science

VCOP ACTIVITY
What happens next?
Imagine the full story turns out to be in three parts and this article is only Part One. Think about what the rest of the story could be and write the next two parts that tell the rest of this story.

Time: allow 30 minutes to complete this activity
Curriculum Links: English, Critical and Creative Thinking