Qantas’ Project Sunrise plane completes first test flight over France

Qantas’ Project Sunrise plane made its first test flight over France, as the airline stretches out the timeline on the delivery of the landmark service.

The specially built Airbus A350-1000ULR aircraft took off for the first time from Toulouse on Tuesday afternoon, local time, and flew for nearly four hours over France and the French Atlantic coast.

The trip allowed two test pilots, three test engineers and a ground test specialist to evaluate the aircraft’s performance, including its fuel system’s 20,000-litre rear-centre fuel tank. The modification on this model of A350 will enable the plane to make flights of up to 22 hours non-stop.

The war in the Middle East may bolster the business case for the Project Sunrise aircraft, which will be able to bypass hubs and travel at least 1000 kilometres further than existing A350s.

The test flight was a milestone following a series of delays: Plans for the ultra-long-haul plane were first announced by Qantas and Airbus in 2017, with an expected launch of 2023. But the COVID pandemic halted aircraft production for both the plane and the overall aviation industry, including Airbus rival Boeing.

In 2022, Qantas confirmed a firm order for 12 of the planes, with their launch expected for 2025. At the time, Qantas also signalled that A320s and A220s would “become the backbone” of Qantas’ domestic fleet “for the next 20 years”. In 2024, the airline moved the expected delivery of the A350-1000ULR to 2026.

And last week, Qantas revealed the first Project Sunrise plane would not arrive in Australia until April next year.

The aircraft manufacturing sector – airframes, engines and cabin interiors – has never fully recovered from the disruption caused by the COVID lockdown.

Airbus has a backlog of about 9000 plane orders, compared to about 6700 for Boeing, according to FlightPlan, a market research firm. When aviation effectively ground to a halt during the pandemic, production parts supply feeding into factories withered.

In late May, Airbus began warning customers to expect further delays in A350 deliveries later this decade. The European aircraft maker cited problems with fuselage parts from the former Spirit AeroSystems plant in North Carolina, according to Reuters.

The delay in the availability of new planes has forced premium airlines like Qantas, Emirates, and Singapore Airlines to announce ambitious cabin retrofits for their existing planes.

In 2024, Singapore Airlines said it would plough $1.2 billion into new long-haul cabins across 41 Airbus A350-900 long-haul and ultra-long-range planes to fly routes such as Singapore-New York in the second quarter of 2026. Last month, Singapore revealed those planes would be delayed until the first quarter of 2027, “subject to regulatory approvals”.

More complex and diverse seating options for business class have also slowed the planes’ certification process, which ensures the equipment is safe for commercial flight.

Qantas said it will reveal its Project Sunrise routes later this month, with speculation that Sydney to New York may be the first route announced.

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