16:08 AEST Thu 9 Jan 2003 / ninemsn Qantas Airways believes it has broken a world record, flying almost 17,000 kilometres from France to Melbourne without stopping. The Airbus, a twin-engine aircraft that is the second in Qantas' new Airbus fleet, made the 20-hour, non-commercial flight after being delivered to the airline last month. It flew non-stop from its manufacturing base in Toulouse, France to Melbourne on Christmas Eve. David Forsyth, Qantas' executive general manager of aircraft operations, said he believed the Airbus had achieved a record for the longest distance flown non-stop for planes with a take-off weight of between 200,000 and 250,000 kilograms. The former record of 11,249km was also accomplished by an Airbus on a flight from Toulouse to Santiago, Chile on March 21, 1998. Mr Forsyth said Qantas was waiting on confirmation from the Australian Sport Aviation Confederation in Canberra that the Christmas Eve flight was a world record. Qantas has purchased 13 Airbuses from Toulouse. The second Airbus will fly between Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth. Greetings from Vienna, Manfred