Bangladesh, July 27 -- The aircraft departed Toulouse carrying only Airbus test pilots and flight-test engineers, rather than commercial passengers, and landed in Melbourne, marking a key milestone for Qantas' long-running Project Sunrise initiative.

While it was not the first nonstop flight linking Europe and Australia, a distinction held by the airline's Paris-Perth route, this flight served specifically as a certification exercise for the aircraft type Qantas intends to use on future nonstop Sydney-London services.

The flight briefly became the most-tracked aircraft on Flightradar24 as it crossed Europe, the Middle East, and the Indian Ocean, reflecting global interest in the aircraft despite it not yet carrying paying passengers. ...