Plane becomes most tracked in the world as 10,000 tune in to watch flight path
Thousands of people are tuning in to watch the world's longest-range commercial aeroplane make its maiden journey to Australia.
Everyone dreams of holidaying in Australia and while millions fulfil the dream, others are put off by the long and arduous journey.
At present, there are only direct flights to Australia if you head from London to the isolated western city of Perth.
But if you have your eyes on Melbourne or Sydney, then you will have to lay over in one of Asia's major transport hubs, like Dubai, Doha or Singapore.
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Though, hopefully not for long, as Qantas are working on a solution with its Project Sunrise.
The Airbus A350-1000ULR has been custom-designed for the Australian airline and is made to fly non-stop between Sydney and London.
The plane is heading to Melbourne
Now the plane is making its first trek from Europe to Australia after taking off from Toulouse, France, at 6:33am BST on Thursday, July 23.
It won't land in Melbourne until around 2am (11am in Australia) with the flight expected to last around 19-and-half hours.
Soon after leaving the runway in France, more than 10,000 people tuned in to track flight AIB35LR on FlightRadar24, according to News.com.
There are still around 8,000 people watching the flight's progress at time of writing, with the plane just clearing Egypt on its long trip with just under 16 hours to go.
After flying over Saudi Arabia and Yemen, the flight will travel over the Indian Ocean before arriving in Australia.
Project Sunrise is set to launch in 2027
The plane completed its first ever flight on June 2, flying for three hours and 43 minutes around France and the French Atlantic Coast.
That journey and the current expedition to Melbourne are test flights.
Qantas first announced its plans for a direct flight from London to Sydney back in 2017, ordering 12 of the custom-built aircrafts from Airbus in 2022.
The first plane was expected to be delivered in 2026 but has been delayed until April 2027, with the other 11 to follow over the next two and a half years.
Qantas hope to start offering non-stop journeys by October 2027, with flights set to go on sale in February.
"We feel really confident that this is going to be a success," Qantas CEO Vanessa Hudson told the BBC upon announcing the flights in June.
The mammoth journey could take as long as 22 hours, but that's four hours fewer than what it currently takes with lay overs.
However, tickets are not expected to come cheap for the convenience.
Especially as the planes will have fewer seats to increase leg room, with 40 per cent of them set to be premium economy, business or first class.
However, Hudson says "customers have been prepared to pay a premium" for London to Perth flights.
Flying for such long periods of time has health risks, such as vein thrombosis, due to spending so much time sitting down.
Qantas has moved to combat that by adding a 'wellness zone' on the plane, located between premium economy and economy, where there will be room for passengers to move more freely and exercise, with stretching instructions developed by Charles Perkins Centre available.
The flights are also expected to turn the lights off in the cabin for around 12 hours to minimise sleep disruption, fatigue and jet lag.
You still won't be able to lie down in economy, but n additional shelf on the seat in front to place a phone, tablet device or any other personal item has been added.
There is also a 13.3 inch screen that plays movies, TV shows and games.
It'll be the world's longest flight
Once launched, the journey will take the world's longest flight record from Singapore Airlines' Singapore to New York route.
Qantas first flew between London and Sydney in 1947, which took four days and had to stop seven times.
We've come a long way since then.
Daniel Murphy