A350 Ultra Long Range finishes very first flight

The most current variation of the Airbus A350 finished its very first flight Monday early morning, travelling over the Mediterranean Sea in a series of long loops after removing from the business’s head office in Toulouse, France.

The A350-900 ULR (for Ultra Long Range) is a customized style of the existing A350-900, however with an upgraded fuel system and extended winglets that allow it to fly midway around the Earth.

< div class ="shortcode video v2" data-video-playlist="[{" id="" new="" airbus="" soars="" on="" first="" flight="" to="" enter="" service="" next="" year="" the="" a330neo="" boasts="" engines="" a="" quieter="" passenger="" cabin="" and="" redesigned="" wings.="" news="" video="">

Now playing:
Watch this:

A new Airbus soars on first flight

1:24

With a total range of 9,700 nautical miles (1,600 more than the current A350-900), the A350-900ULR will be able to fly 20 hours nonstop with a full load of passengers. Launch customer Singapore Airlines, which has ordered seven of the airliners, will use them to restart its 19-hour nonstop flights between New York and Singapore.

The airline already uses the A350-900 on such long routes as its 17-hour flight between San Francisco and Singapore, and Cathay Pacific will put the A350-1000 on its new 16-hour flight between Hong and Washington Dulles this September. 

Once Singapore’s nonstop to New York starts next year, it will take the title of the world’s longest commercial flight, beating both Qatar Airways’ 18-hour nonstop between Doha, Qatar, and Auckland, New Zealand (on a Boeing 777-200) and Qantas’ new 17-hour nonstop between Perth, Australia, and London (on a Boeing 787-9). 

CNET Magazine: Check out a sample of the stories in CNET’s newsstand edition.

Rebooting the Reef: CNET dives deep into how tech can help save Australia’s Great Barrier Reef.