A350-900ULR First Flight
 

The Airbus A350-900ULR (Ultra Long Range), a contender for Qantas’s demanding Project Sunrise mission, has taken to the skies for the first time to kick off a short flight test program ahead of certification and entry into service with Singapore Airlines in the second half of 2018.

While the aircraft, MSN216, is yet to be painted, it does feature the words “Singapore Airlines First To Fly” on the fuselage alongside a “A350XWB Ultra Long Range” logo.

Powered by two Rolls-Royce Trent XWB engines, the A350-900ULR took off from Airbus’s headquarters at Toulouse, France a little after 1030 local time on Monday.

It headed south-east, flying mostly over the Mediterranean Sea before returning to Toulouse, where the flightcrew conducted a go-around before landing at about 1530.

Airbus Commercial Aircraft president Guillaume Faury said on Twitter that the A350-900ULR was “pushing the boundaries like no other aircraft has before”.

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