Why more than 75,000 people watched a record Qantas flight on Flightradar24 Friday?

A Qantas flight attracted attention from more than 75,000 people on Flightradar24 as it landed in Melbourne on Friday. The ultra-long-haul Project Sunrise plane completed a historic 20-hour test flight. The A350-1000ULR aircraft has been specially built and will become the airline’s first plane to travel non-stop from Sydney to London starting late 2027. It covered 17,000km after taking off from Toulouse and landed in Melbourne at 10:46 am Australian time.

Naturally, it attracted immense attention from plane and transport enthusiasts, as over 75,000 watched its path on Flightradar24. When it touched down, it was the most watched flight in the world. Qantas said in a statement that there were two Qantas pilots and the Airbus flight test crew on board the plane. It said that the aircraft will leave Melbourne for the Airbus headquarters in Toulouse on Monday.

Qantas announced in June that the long-haul flight will take off from Sydney for London in October 2027 and bookings will open in February 2027. Currently, planes make one stop on the route, and the new flight will cut four hours from the journey time.

Current longest flight in the world

Later, flights will also start from Sydney to New York. When the Project Sunrise flights finally start, the service will officially become the longest non-stop passenger flight in the world. The current record for the world’s longest flight is held by Singapore Airlines, which covers 15,332 kilometres in 18 hours and 40 minutes.

However, to enjoy the non-stop flight, passengers will have to shell out roughly 20 per cent more than traditional one-stop flights. The aircraft is able to fly for 20 hours because of an additional 20,000-litre rear centre fuel tank and enhanced systems. The first test flight took off on June 3 and flew for three hours 43 minutes over France and the French Atlantic Coast.