Modified A350-1000 for Qantas’s ‘Project Sunrise’ conducts maiden flight

Ultra long-haul -1000ULR variant for routes including Sydney-London begins two-month certification campaign.

Airbus has flown the first example of its ultra long-range A350-1000, which will be used by Australian operator Qantas for its non-stop services from the east coast to London and New York.

Carrying flight-test instrumentation the twinjet carried out a 3h 43min sortie from Toulouse on 2 June, including cruise at 41,000ft over the Bay of Biscay.

Six crew members were on board: two experimental test pilots plus four flight- and ground-test engineers.

It marks the beginning of a test and certification campaign expected to last around two months, and which will include about 80h of flight tests.

Qantas is taking 12 of the modified A350-1000ULRs for its ‘Project Sunrise’ initiative to offer services from the east coast to cities previously unreachable without a stop.

These potential routes include Sydney-London and Sydney-New York. Qantas intends to disclose the initial sector during June.

The A350’s primary modification is the inclusion of a 20,000-litre rear centre tank integrated with the aircraft structure, providing an additional 1,000nm of range.

Its initial flight test covered checks on this new fuel system architecture, as well as aircraft control and performance.

Airbus says a new galley air cooling system — designed for long duration flights and featuring lighter, more efficient refrigeration appliances — will be tested, along with cabin temperature and ventilation.

The flight-test aircraft, MSN707, bears the temporary registration F-WULR.

Once the campaign is completed, the airframe will be reconfigured with a Qantas passenger cabin and eventually delivered to the airline.

But its delivery will be preceded by the second A350-1000ULR which will be handed over to the carrier in April next year — later than the planned timetable of end-2026.

Airbus says this second aircraft is “at an advanced stage of final assembly” and will emerge from the paint shop “in the coming days”.

It will then have its Rolls-Royce Trent XWB-97 engines installed and be fitted with a four-class cabin.

Qantas has also ordered 12 regular A350-1000s, complementing the -1000ULRs, for modernisation of its long-haul fleet.