An A350 jet being developed for record-setting commercial flights landed in France from Melbourne on Tuesday after Airbus completed a test flight lasting more than 24 hours, drawing heavy attention from online flight trackers.

The test marks a key step in Qantas' Project Sunrise, which ​aims to launch the world's ​longest commercial ⁠passenger services and reshape long-haul travel by eliminating stopovers between Australia and Europe.

The specially adapted A350-1000ULR airliner is due to debut with the Australian carrier's nonstop Sydney-London route from 2027. Airbus has been conducting a two-month test campaign on the aircraft since June.

Airbus said the aircraft, which boasts a specially designed extra fuel tank, remained in the air for 24 hours ⁠and ⁠24 minutes, covering 23,075 kilometers (14,338 miles) without stopping, before landing at the plane's factory in Toulouse, France.

Flight-tracking provider Flightradar24 said the trip was the second-most-tracked flight ever on its channels, behind a 2024 flight carrying Queen Elizabeth II's coffin, with more than 3.6 million people following its progress northward via Canada.

In 2005, a ⁠Boeing 777-200LR Worldliner flew 21,601.7 km from Hong Kong to London in 22 hours and 42 minutes.

Qantas has ordered ​12 modified A350-1000ULR aircraft, designed to connect Australia's east coast ​with London and New York in about 20 hours. The services aim to turn what ⁠was ‌once a five-day ‌journey on the "Kangaroo Route" to London ⁠into a single flight lasting ‌19 to 21 hours, depending on routing and winds.

The first ​aircraft, which carries 20,000 ⁠liters of fuel and can seat ⁠238 passengers, is due for delivery in April ⁠2027. Qantas expects to ​operate daily nonstop flights between Sydney and London from October 2027.