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Marathon 24-hour Qantas flight tracked by 3.6 million internet users
A Qantas Airbus A350-1000ULR completed a 24-hour, 24-minute test flight from Melbourne to Toulouse, tracked by over 3.6 million people on FlightRadar24. The flight is part of Project Sunrise, aiming for daily non-stop Sydney-London flights by October 2027.
Qantas Marathon Test Flight Tracked by 3.6 Million as Airline Nears Non-Stop Sydney-London Service
A specially modified Qantas Airbus A350-1000ULR has completed a marathon 24-hour, 24-minute test flight from Melbourne to Toulouse, France, drawing the attention of more than 3.6 million online trackers. The flight, part of Qantas’ Project Sunrise initiative, is a key step toward launching the world’s longest commercial passenger service between Australia’s east coast and Europe.
Coverage Comparison
Both ABC Australia and The Guardian — World reported on the record-breaking flight, highlighting its duration and the massive public interest on flight-tracking platforms. ABC Australia framed the story around the millions of internet users who followed the journey, while The Guardian — World emphasized the flight’s significance as part of Qantas’ ambitious plans for ultra-long-haul travel. Both outlets described the flight as a “marathon” and maintained an informative tone, with neutral attribution to Airbus and FlightRadar24.
Key Claims
Longest-ever commercial flight: The Airbus A350-1000ULR completed a flight from Melbourne to Toulouse lasting 24 hours and 24 minutes, covering 23,075 km (14,338 miles) over the Pacific and Atlantic oceans without stopping. This is reported by both ABC Australia and The Guardian — World, citing Airbus.
Massive online tracking: More than 3.6 million people tracked the flight on FlightRadar24, making it the second-most-tracked flight on the platform, behind only a 2024 (or 2022, per The Guardian) flight carrying Queen Elizabeth II’s coffin, according to ABC Australia and The Guardian — World.
Qantas Project Sunrise: Qantas has ordered 12 modified A350-1000ULR aircraft to connect Australia’s east coast with London and New York in about 20 hours. The first aircraft is due for delivery in April 2027 and can seat 238 passengers, carrying 20,000 additional litres of fuel, as reported by ABC Australia and The Guardian — World.
Target for daily service: Qantas expects to operate daily nonstop flights between Sydney and London from October 2027, according to ABC Australia.
Previous record: A Boeing 777-200LR Worldliner flew 21,601.7 km from Hong Kong to London in 22 hours and 42 minutes in 2005, as noted by ABC Australia. The Guardian — World also mentions this previous record, though it states the route went via the Pacific.
Test campaign: Airbus has been conducting a two-month test campaign on the aircraft since June, and in a prior test, the plane flew from Toulouse to Melbourne via the Indian Ocean in just over 19 hours, per The Guardian — World.
Perspectives
Both ABC Australia and The Guardian — World present the test flight as a significant milestone for Qantas and ultra-long-haul aviation. The coverage focuses on the technical achievement, the public interest, and the airline’s timeline for launching commercial services. No alternative or dissenting viewpoints from named parties—such as government agencies, competitors, or aviation regulators—are included in the provided material.
How each outlet told it
ABC Australia
Framing: Qantas plane tracked by millions — Informative
Facts Included:
The Airbus A350-1000ULR completed its flight from Melbourne to Toulouse in 24 hours and 24 minutes
More than 3.6 million people tracked the flight
Qantas expects to operate daily nonstop flights between Sydney and London from October 2027
The aircraft's test flight was watched by more than 3.6 million people on FlightRadar24
A Boeing 777-200LR Worldliner flew 21,601.7 kilometres from Hong Kong to London in 22 hours and 42 minutes in 2005
Each row is one claim, attributed to the outlet whose wording states it most clearly. Confidence rates how directly the source text states the claim — explicit and unhedged rates high; hedged, pieced-together, or internally inconsistent statements rate lower. It does not measure whether the claim is true. Status counts the distinct outlets we found asserting it — so a single-source claim can still show high confidence, and a multi-source claim can show medium. Every one of those outlets is named beside the status, so you can check the count against the list. For claims extracted before we began storing that list, the row says so: it names the outlet the claim is quoted from and states that we have not recorded which outlets backed it. Outlets wrote at different times, so a figure that evolves — a casualty count, for example — can legitimately differ between rows; check the "as of" time next to each claim's source.
Claim
Confidence
Status
ClaimQantas completed the longest-ever commercial flight from Melbourne to Toulouse, lasting 24 hours and 24 minutes.
ConfidenceHigh
StatusMulti-source quoted from The Guardian — Worldthe outlets behind this status were not recorded for this claim
ClaimThe flight covered 23,075km (14,338 miles) in a route over the Pacific and Atlantic oceans without stopping.
ConfidenceHigh
StatusMulti-source quoted from The Guardian — Worldthe outlets behind this status were not recorded for this claim
ClaimMore than 3.6 million people tracked the flight on FlightRadar24.
ConfidenceHigh
StatusMulti-source quoted from The Guardian — Worldthe outlets behind this status were not recorded for this claim
ClaimQantas has ordered 12 modified A350-1000ULR aircraft to connect Australia's east coast with London and New York in about 20 hours.
ConfidenceHigh
StatusMulti-source quoted from The Guardian — Worldthe outlets behind this status were not recorded for this claim
ClaimQantas expects to operate daily nonstop flights between Sydney and London from October 2027.
ConfidenceHigh
StatusMulti-source quoted from The Guardian — Worldthe outlets behind this status were not recorded for this claim
ClaimA Boeing 777-200LR Worldliner flew 21,601.7 kilometres from Hong Kong to London in 22 hours and 42 minutes in 2005.