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In journey information this week: the world’s strongest passports, how edible ants obtained a chef in bother, plus a brand new milestone in ultra-long-haul air journey.
Having a pleasant stress-free weekend? Spare a thought for the weary new Airbus A350-1000ULR, which is cooling its jets in Melbourne after finishing its first-ever nonstop test flight from France. And it has to do it yet again on Monday.
Clocking in at greater than 19 hours for the Toulouse to Melbourne test, the scheduled routes might stretch up to 22 hours and greater than 10,000 miles.
The aircraft has been developed to fly the Australian airline Qantas’ upcoming record-breaking route from Sydney to London. It can be the world’s’s longest continuous business flight when it launches in October 2027.
A crew of 4 Airbus flight test pilots and 5 flight test engineers put the plane’s methods by way of their paces on the flight from Toulouse on Thursday, together with the further 20,000-liter gasoline tank that holds the juice to maintain it in the air for almost a full day.
NCS’s Richard Quest took a glance inside the ultra-long-range aircraft final month. Watch the video under.
Inside the new aircraft made for a 22-hour nonstop flight
Qantas simply revealed the first ‘Project Sunrise’ plane. It’s a aircraft designed to function the world’s longest continuous business flights, connecting London and New York immediately with Sydney for the first time. The London to Sydney route will begin in October 2027.
Passports and border checks
In 2006, a United States passport was the final ticket to the world, providing its residents a stage of seamless international entry matched solely by two different nations: Denmark and Finland.
What a distinction 20 years makes. A brand new report evaluating the journey freedoms of passports round the world in the twenty first century reveals that the status of the US passport has been in sluggish decline, with 36 international locations now forward of it in the rating.
World’s strongest passports of July 2026
The highest rating passport in the European Union, in accordance to the Henley Passport Index, is Sweden. The nation’s residents can efficiently bypass the EU’s new Entry Exit System (EES), which suggests non-EU residents arriving in the 29-country Schengen zone should now have their biometrics taken. The new system has led to border management bottlenecks in some airports, nevertheless it’s simply one in every of a number of tough components to navigate in what is a troublesome summer season for European journey. (NCS subscribers can learn the full story right here).
There’s one itty bitty European border that simply obtained simpler to cross, nonetheless. The bodily border fence between the southern tip of Spain and the British territory of Gibraltar was eliminated earlier this month, beneath a historic treaty between the EU and the UK.
The contested British abroad territory of 38,000 individuals is perched at the tip of the Iberian Peninsula, in a strategic location simply miles throughout the water from Morocco.
Wilderness, wildlife and ‘wow’ issue
America’s Best Towns to Visit 2026: Juneau
Continuing our countdown of America’s Best Towns to Visit in 2026, we’ve Juneau, Alaska, at No.7.
Alaska’s distant, hard-to-reach capital is the largest state capital in the nation by land mass and there positive is lots to love. For starters, Juneau is positioned in a rainforest, it has its personal glacier and its residents embody bears, mountain goats and whales.
Of Juneau’s greater than 1.5 million annual guests, greater than 90% arrive by cruise ship. But there’s loads of room and actions for everybody, even throughout the busy summers.
Take a glance, too, at Roanoke, Virginia, at No. 10, Lawrence, Kansas, at No. 9 and Iowa City, Iowa at No.8.
Canada’s Spotted Lake is a geological surprise
This lake, positioned simply exterior of Osoyoos in British Columbia, has distinctive, colourful spots which can be created by a mixture of its chemistry, geology and local weather.
The geological surprise Spotted Lake, or Lake Khiluk in the Nsyilxcən language, is positioned simply exterior Osoyoos, British Columbia. Its distinctive, colourful spots are created by a mixture of chemistry, geology and local weather.
They felt a deep connection on a aircraft.
A yr later, he obtained again in contact in an unexpected way. (For NCS subscribers solely).
Airline passengers hate middle seats.
But that’s not why United is eliminating a few of them.
A tropical storm. A expensive warfare. A blockbuster movie.
What do you keep in mind from the week that was?
His restaurant put edible ants on the menu.
Now he might face one yr in jail.