Qantas ordered 12 Airbus A350-1000ULRs in May 2022 to fly Australia’s east coast nonstop to London and New York. Nine years after the idea surfaced, the aircraft is finally flying.
Nineteen Hours to Melbourne
The first of the twelve, MSN707, left Toulouse, France on July 23 and landed in Melbourne, Australia just over 19 hours later. The flight covered roughly 17,000 km and was planned for a 22-hour block. The actual flight beat predictions by nearly 3 hours. The return flight departed Melbourne on July 27 2026 and arrived back in Toulouse in roughly 24 hours.
What makes this aircraft special is a single modification. Airbus built a 20,000-litre rear center tank into the airframe, adding roughly 1,000 nautical miles of range and taking the variant to about 18,000 km. That is what turns a standard A350-1000 into an aircraft that can fly from Sydney to Heathrow nonstop.
There were no cabins on that flight. Airbus loaded 5 metric tons of custom instruments instead, with more than 1,000 sensors to monitor the fuel system, cabin environment, and aircraft performance. To see how a full cabin behaves, Airbus flew heat-generating passenger dummies that match the thermal load of real passengers, allowing the sensors to measure how a full cabin will affect the aircraft’s environmental controls.
The Cabin
Each aircraft carries 238 seats. That’s the lowest density of any A350-1000 in the world.
First: 6 suites
Business: 52 suites
Premium Economy: 40 seats
Economy: 140 seats (including 42 Economy Plus)
Premium cabins account for more than 40% of the floor. Fares are expected to run around 20% above one-stop itineraries.
First and Business
First runs 1-1-1 across six enclosed suites, each with 57-inch walls and a sliding door. Qantas claims it has 50% more space than the A380 suite it replaces.
The defining choice is the split between the seat and bed. Passengers will get an 80-inch lie-flat bed plus a separate 22-inch reclining armchair. One never has to convert into the other, so the bed stays made while you eat or work. The suite adds a full-length wardrobe, a work and dining space sized for two, and a 32-inch touchscreen which is 14 inches larger than the A380’s.
Business runs in a 1-2-1 configuration across 52 suites, each 42 inches wide behind 47-inch walls. These are the first Qantas business seats with a sliding door.
The bed measures 80 inches long and 25 inches wide, one inch longer than the A380 First bed and one inch wider than the A380 Business seat. Center pairs get an adjustable divider so people traveling together can open the space or keep it closed. Storage is also improved, with a lifting leather ottoman and a compartment with a built-in mirror. The screen grows to 18 inches, two larger than the A380 and 787 fleets.
The Rest of the Plane
Premium Economy seats 40 in a 2-4-2 layout at 40-inch pitch with a calf rest and an 8-inch winged headrest. Economy seats 140 at 3-3-3 with 33-inch pitch and 13.3-inch screens.
Between them sits the Wellbeing Zone, open to every cabin. It has sculpted surfaces with integrated stretch handles, guided movement programs, a hydration station, and self-serve refreshments. The cabin runs 12 lighting scenes built on circadian rhythm science, including Sunrise, Sunset, and Awake, meant to pull passengers toward destination time before they land.
What to Watch
The certification campaign wraps up in the coming weeks. The first delivery aircraft, named Vega, is set to arrive by April 2027. Tickets are planned to go on sale in February while daily service from Sydney to London starts in October 2027. Sydney to New York is planned to follow suit. The real test is when we find out whether the premium Qantas needs is one the market will pay.