Flight testing the A350-1000ULR

In 2017, Qantas’ ‘Project Sunrise' laid down the challenge to link eastern Australia to London and New York non-stop. Airbus accepted, in the shape of the A350-1000ULR. Certification of this ultra-long range variant began with the first flight of an ULR production aircraft carefully equipped with customised flight test instrumentation. Once the campaign concludes, the aircraft will be prepared for commercial service.

Meet A350 MSN707

Meet A350 MSN707, the Airbus production aircraft that’s leading the A350-1000ULR’s (Ultra Long Range) two-month certification campaign. After rolling out in late 2025, the variant made its first flight on 2 June 2026. One day soon, sporting Qantas colours, the aircraft will link Sydney with London and New York. For the next few months however, MSN707 will serve as a test aircraft. It’s a proud moment for the many Airbus teams involved in the airline’s ‘Project Sunrise’.

A350-1000ULR Qantas MSN707 First flight crew

Custom-built flight test instrumentation 

Designing the five tonnes of custom monitoring equipment needed to run the ULR certification campaign began as soon as MSN707 entered production, in 2023. Thanks to incredible Airbus teamwork, from the Design Office to the plants that make the aircraft’s major components, three years later ‘Project Sunrise' is off the ground. 

When Qantas first revealed the project, executives talked of ‘ending the tyranny of distance.’ The twelve A350-1000ULRs on order that will operate these flights of up to 22 hours require several key modifications. Integrating a 20,000-litre rear centre tank, a modified fuel system and a new galley cooling architecture means this A350 variant must be certified by EASA, the EU aviation safety agency, before it can enter service. 

Accordingly, flight test instrumentation (FTI) has been installed in MSN707’s cabin. Eighty percent of the FTI, including over a thousand specially-designed sensors, was assembled and installed as the aircraft itself took shape in Airbus’ industrial system. 

The challenge? That the cabin has to be preserved in pristine condition for revenue service. 

A350-1000ULR MSN707 - Pax Heat Dummies

Integrating the Flight Test Instrumentation 

Preparing a production aircraft for a certification campaign requires an even higher degree of precision than usual. Unlike prototype airframes, MSN707 will carry passengers. Standard invasive FTI is out of the question. 

Instead, the multifunctional Airbus team designed a one-off, non-destructive ‘light’ instrumentation layout including a flight test engineer work station in the cabin. By comparison, with their extensive FTI installations, prototype aircraft largely remain in the hands of the Airbus Flight Test organisation to prove and certify continuous improvements to the platform beyond entry into service. 

Thousands of feet of cabling - coloured orange for visibility - snake through MSN707’s existing cabin tracks and structural galleys to avoid drilling new holes. The new fuel tank is fitted with highly-sensitive sensors to monitor fuel flow, temperature and oxygen concentration during every flight phase. 

Dummy passengers and a new refrigeration system 

Above the cargo floor, the team is validating another big change. The A350-1000ULR introduces the New Generation Air Chiller (NGAC). It marks a shift from the centralised refrigeration systems used on the baseline A350 to a localised system that provides cooling individually to each galley.

To ensure that the NGAC maintains a premium cabin environment, extensive instrumentation has been laid out to track ambient temperature. Since a full cabin behaves differently, the team uses ‘dummy’ passengers that generate the heat load of real people, allowing engineers to guarantee maximum comfort before actual travellers ever board.

Unparalleled cross-functional collaboration 

The success of the certification campaign relies on cooperation between many Airbus teams containing hundreds of people, from Operations to Engineering. By their own admission, the flight test teams are the ‘tip of the spear’. Procurement and Programmes teams work hand-in-hand with Qantas colleagues, keeping them fully engaged with the milestone testing of their future fleet flagship over 80 or so flight hours. 

At the final assembly line in Toulouse, France, production mechanics work closely with test flight engineers, sharing expertise on the new fuel tank architecture to ensure that what was learned during testing could immediately optimise the ULR’s serial production flow.  

A350-1000ULR MSN707 - Pax Heat Dummies

The test flight engineer at the heart of the campaign

In any certification campaign, the role of the test flight engineer (TFE, not to be confused with FTE, for flight test engineer, the person who orchestrates each test flight) is critical. Sitting in the cockpit jump seat, the TFE has overall responsibility for the test airframe to which they are assigned.  

As the aircraft focal point, TFEs know their machine inside out. They configure it for flight testing. Prior to every mission, they inspect the aircraft meticulously during the walk-around. During every pre-flight briefing, they share any operational limitations with the rest of the crew. Test flight engineers attend flight test school, just like their pilot and flight test engineers colleagues. 

Flight testing a production aircraft adds a layer of extra pressure,” says MSN707 Airbus test flight engineer Laurent Rossignol. "You are sitting inside the actual product. The customer is trusting us with their future flagship. Every switch we flip, every check we carry out, every manoeuvre we perform has to be executed with the passenger experience and operational reliability in mind." 

Test flights are different from routine Airbus production and acceptance missions, which check a new aircraft is performing as expected first without (production), then with the customer on board (acceptance). 

A350-1000ULR Qantas MSN707 First flight crew

A certification framework for the future

The innovative approach to flight testing the ULR has created a new framework for aircraft derivative certification at Airbus. While the primary goal is always safety, the benefits of this campaign will ripple across the company. For example, the massive cache of data collected by those 1,000 specialised sensors will be used to recalibrate digital models for the A350 cabin.

By updating advanced simulation models with real-world flight data, Airbus engineers will be able to accurately model future cabin variations entirely in a digital environment. This eliminates the need to repeat expensive physical tests, reducing development costs and reducing lead times.

Thanks to outstanding collaboration, innovative incremental manufacturing and brilliant engineering, the A350-1000ULR team isn't just preparing Qantas’ future flagship. They are rethinking how Airbus tests and certifies its aircraft.