Twinjet designed for Qantas’s Project Sunrise takes the long way round as it heads back to Toulouse.
Airbus’s ultra-long range A350-1000ULR is returning from Melbourne to Toulouse via a transpacific crossing – the most demanding test of the aircraft to date.
The duration of the test flight will not be formally confirmed until the aircraft arrives in France, but it could be in the region of 24h.
Developed for Qantas’s ‘Project Sunrise’ initiative, the twinjet covered the outbound sector – a distance of 9,120nm – in around 19h 12min on 23-24 July.
But the return trip involves taking the longer way round, stretching to 12,500nm.
The aircraft took off from Melbourne’s runway 34 at 17:27 on 27 July.
Qantas has previously indicated that transpacific crossings – taking advantage of wind conditions – are an option for the nonstop Sydney-London route, to be launch under Project Sunrise in October next year.
Airbus has designed the aircraft with a 20,000-litre integrated aft fuel tank to enable it to achieve the range needed for the route.
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