Qantas jet lands in Australia after 19-hour non-stop test flight from France

Qantas’s A350-1000ULR, a commercial jet designed to fly directly from London, U.K., to Sydney, Australia, completed a crucial test flight on Friday after cruising non-stop for almost 20 hours. The first A350-1000ULR to take to the skies touched down in Melbourne on Friday, following an extensive test flight from Airbus’ manufacturing facility in Toulouse, France, the airline said in a news release. 2:02 Qantas testing longest direct flights in the world Story continues below advertisement The flight was operated by four Airbus test pilots and five test engineers, who were tasked with putting the aircraft’s systems through their paces, including the 20,000-litre fuel tank that allows it to fly commercially non-stop for up to 22 hours.Its return flight to Toulouse will take off from Melbourne on July 27 as part of the flight test program. Two Qantas pilots will be on board for the journey back to France, the company said. Get daily National news Get daily Canada news delivered to your inbox so you'll never miss the day's top stories. The Sydney-based airline unveiled the first of its specially-modified Airbus A350-1000 jets that will regularly make the 17,015-kilometre journey from L...