The world’s longest flight is put to the test

In travel news this week: the world’s most powerful passports, how edible ants got a chef in trouble, plus a new milestone in ultra-long-haul air travel.

Having a nice relaxing weekend? Spare a thought for the weary new Airbus A350-1000ULR , which is cooling its jets in Melbourne after completing its first-ever nonstop test flight from France. And it has to do it all over again on Monday.

Clocking in at more than 19 hours for the Toulouse to Melbourne test, the scheduled routes could stretch up to 22 hours and more than 10,000 miles.

The plane has been developed to fly the Australian airline Qantas’ upcoming record-breaking route from Sydney to London. It will be the world’s’s longest non-stop commercial flight when it launches in October 2027.

A crew of four Airbus flight test pilots and five flight test engineers put the aircraft’s systems through their paces on the flight from Toulouse on Thursday, including the extra 20,000-liter fuel tank that holds the juice to keep it in the air for nearly a full day.

CNN’s Richard Quest took a look inside the ultra-long-range plane last month. Watch the video below.

Qantas just revealed the first ‘Project Sunrise’ aircraft. It's a plane designed to operate the world's longest non-stop commercial flights, connecting London and New York directly with Sydney for the first time. The London to Sydney route will start in October 2027.

In 2006, a United States passport was the ultimate ticket to the world, offering its citizens a level of seamless global access matched only by two other nations: Denmark and Finland.

What a difference 20 years makes. A new report comparing the travel freedoms of passports around the world in the 21st century shows that the status of the US passport has been in slow decline, with 36 countries now ahead of it in the ranking.

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The highest ranking passport in the European Union, according to the Henley Passport Index, is Sweden. The country’s citizens can successfully bypass the EU’s new Entry Exit System (EES), which means non-EU citizens arriving in the 29-country Schengen zone must now have their biometrics taken. The new system has led to border control bottlenecks in some airports, but it’s just one of several tricky factors to navigate in what is a tough summer for European travel. (CNN subscribers can read the full story here).

There’s one itty bitty European border that just got easier to cross, however. The physical border fence between the southern tip of Spain and the British territory of Gibraltar was removed earlier this month, under a historic treaty between the EU and the UK.

The contested British overseas territory of 38,000 people is perched at the tip of the Iberian Peninsula, in a strategic location just miles across the water from Morocco.

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Continuing our countdown of America’s Best Towns to Visit in 2026 , we have Juneau, Alaska, at No.7.

Alaska’s remote, hard-to-reach capital is the largest state capital in the nation by land mass and there sure is a lot to love. For starters, Juneau is located in a rainforest, it has its own glacier and its residents include bears, mountain goats and whales.

Of Juneau’s more than 1.5 million annual visitors, more than 90% arrive by cruise ship. But there’s plenty of room and activities for everyone, even during the busy summers.

Take a look, too, at Roanoke, Virginia , at No. 10, Lawrence, Kansas , at No. 9 and Iowa City, Iowa at No.8.

This lake, located just outside of Osoyoos in British Columbia, has distinctive, colorful spots that are created by a combination of its chemistry, geology and climate.

The geological wonder Spotted Lake , or Lake Khiluk in the Nsyilxcən language, is located just outside Osoyoos, British Columbia. Its distinctive, colorful spots are created by a combination of chemistry, geology and climate.

They felt a deep connection on a plane.

A year later, he got back in touch in an unexpected way . (For CNN subscribers only).

Airline passengers hate middle seats .

But that’s not why United is getting rid of some of them.

A tropical storm. A costly war. A blockbuster film.

What do you remember from the week that was ?

His restaurant put edible ants on the menu.

Now he could face one year in prison.

本周旅游新闻：世界上最强大的护照、食用蚂蚁如何让一位厨师陷入麻烦，以及超长途航空旅行的新里程碑。

周末过得轻松愉快吗？不妨也想想疲惫不堪的全新空客A350-1000ULR吧，它刚刚完成从法国出发的首次直飞测试飞行，现在正在墨尔本机场冷却。而周一它又要再次执行同样的任务。

从图卢兹到墨尔本的测试飞行时间超过 19 小时，而预定航线的飞行时间可能长达 22 小时，航程超过 10,000 英里。

这架飞机是为澳大利亚航空公司澳航即将开通的悉尼至伦敦的破纪录航线而研发的。该航线将于2027年10月开通，届时将成为世界上最长的直飞商业航班。

周四，由四名空客试飞员和五名试飞工程师组成的机组人员从图卢兹起飞，对飞机的各个系统进行了全面测试，其中包括额外的 20,000 升燃油箱，该燃油箱储存的燃料可使飞机在空中飞行近一天。

上个月，CNN记者理查德·奎斯特（Richard Quest）探访了这架超远程飞机。请观看下方视频。

澳航刚刚发布了首架“日出计划”（Project Sunrise）飞机。这架飞机旨在执飞全球最长的直飞商业航线，首次实现伦敦、纽约与悉尼之间的直飞。伦敦至悉尼航线将于2027年10月开通。

2006 年，美国护照是通往世界的终极通行证，为公民提供了无缝衔接的全球访问体验，只有另外两个国家可以与之媲美：丹麦和芬兰。

二十年变化真大。一份比较21世纪以来世界各地护照旅行自由度的新报告显示，美国护照的地位一直在缓慢下降，目前已有36个国家的排名高于美国。

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根据亨利护照指数，瑞典护照在欧盟排名最高。瑞典公民可以顺利绕过欧盟新的出入境系统（EES），这意味着非欧盟公民抵达申根区29个国家时必须采集生物识别信息。新系统导致部分机场出现边境管制拥堵，但这只是今年夏季欧洲旅行面临的诸多棘手问题之一。（CNN订阅用户可点击此处阅读全文）

不过，有一条欧洲小边界现在更容易穿越了。根据欧盟和英国之间一项历史性条约，西班牙南端和英国属地直布罗陀之间的实体边界围栏已于本月初拆除。

这个拥有 38,000 人口的英国海外领土位于伊比利亚半岛的顶端，地理位置优越，隔海相望摩洛哥，是英国与海外领土争夺的焦点。

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克里斯·阿伦德/阿拉斯加博物馆供图

雅克杜普雷/朱诺海滨餐厅

继续我们的 2026 年美国最佳旅游城镇倒计时，阿拉斯加州朱诺位列第七。

阿拉斯加州首府朱诺地处偏远，交通不便，是美国面积最大的州府，这里确实有很多值得喜爱的地方。首先，朱诺坐落在热带雨林中，拥有自己的冰川，而且这里还栖息着熊、山羊和鲸鱼等野生动物。

朱诺每年接待超过150万游客，其中90%以上是乘坐邮轮抵达的。但即使在旅游旺季，这里也有足够的空间和活动供每个人选择。

也请看看排名第 10 的弗吉尼亚州罗阿诺克、排名第 9 的堪萨斯州劳伦斯和排名第 8 的爱荷华州爱荷华市。

这个位于不列颠哥伦比亚省奥索尤斯郊外的湖泊，拥有独特的、色彩斑斓的斑点，这是由其化学成分、地质和气候共同作用形成的。

地质奇观斑点湖（在恩西尔克森语中称为基卢克湖）位于不列颠哥伦比亚省奥索尤斯郊外。其独特的彩色斑点是由化学、地质和气候共同作用形成的。

他们在飞机上感受到了深深的联系。

一年后，他以一种意想不到的方式再次联系了我。（仅限 CNN 订阅用户）

航空公司乘客讨厌中间座位。

但这并不是曼联裁掉其中一些球员的原因。

热带风暴。一场代价高昂的战争。一部票房大片。

你还记得上周发生了什么吗？

他的餐厅把食用蚂蚁列入了菜单。

他现在可能面临一年监禁。