When You Simply Have to Get There, No Matter How Far...

The second Qantas Airbus A330-200 aircraft went into service Thursday after achieving a milestone on its delivery flight that may soon be recognized in the world record books. VH-EBB, flew nonstop for almost 17,000 kilometers (10,563 statute miles), "...demonstrating," as the company says, "the range capability and efficiency of the A330-200."

Executive General Manager Aircraft Operations David Forsyth said the big twin, VH-EBB, flew non-stop from Toulouse in France to Melbourne. It used up four pilots in the quest.

"We believe we have achieved a 'distance without landing' milestone of 16,910 km improving on the current record of 11,249 km which was accomplished on a flight from Toulouse to Santiago, Chile on March 21, 1998.

"The distance flown by VH-EBB demonstrates the range capability and efficiency of the A330-200, which will be used on key Cityflyer routes between Sydney and Brisbane, Melbourne and Perth."

Mr. Forsyth said while not setting out to break records, the Airbus' efficiencies had enabled a normal A330-200 delivery flight to operate non-stop between France and Australia.

"The aircraft was fully fitted out with its standard interior configuration, standard fuel was used for the flight and there were no special operating procedures or modifications adopted for the flight."

Qantas is awaiting accreditation from the Australian Sport Aviation Confederation in Canberra that the flight was a world record. The statistics and records of the flight are:

Maximum take off weight   233,000 kilograms
Registration                      VH-EBB
Class                               C-1r (Landplanes: take off weight
                                                      200,000 to 250,000 kg)      
Group                              3 (turbo-jet)

With 16 passengers and crew on board (but not accompanied by the Red Arrows, as at right), the aircraft flew at a speed of 865 km/hr (537 mi/h) and touched down in Melbourne at 4:46 pm on Christmas Day. The flight time was approximately 20 hours and 4 minutes. (In other words, the airplane got from France to Australia faster than the news got from Australia to us!)

FMI: www.airbus.com, www.qantas.com