Airbus says it completed first flight of ultra-long-haul jet

 Airbus, the world's largest aircraft manufacturer, on Tuesday said that the first of 12 modified A350 aircraft ordered by Australian airline Qantas had completed its maiden flight. Qantas intends to use the European manufacturer's aircraft primarily to offer non-stop ultra-long-haul flights connecting Sydney with NewYork and London. Operated by a dedicated Airbus flight test crew, the ultra-long rangeA350-1000ULR took off for the first time from the French city of Toulouse and flew for three hours 43 minutes over France and the French Atlantic Coast, the European manufacturer said. "Following the flight test campaign, MSN 707 will be retrofitted to Qantas' commercial specifications," Airbus said, adding that a second ultra-long-haul aircraft was scheduled to be delivered to the Australian company in April 2027 and "is now at an advanced stage of final assembly and ready to roll out of the paint shop in the coming days." Qantas said that "the successful first flight marks the beginning ofa two-month testing campaign," adding that it would announce the first route of the so-called "Project Sunrise" and its timing of its inaugural commercial services later in June. The carrier ordered the 12 modified A350 aircraft in 2022.

At the time it planned to begin running non-stop flights connecting Sydney with cities including New York and London from late 2025. Airbus has previously cited supply chain issues as a reason for the delay. There are currently no direct flights connecting Australia's east coast with Europe.  The London-Sydney route covers 17,750 kilometres, more than 1,500kilometres longer than New York-Sydney.

However, both routes would take roughly the same time - up to 22 hours - because of tailwinds.