A Qantas 787 Dreamliner came close to setting a record for the aircraft type earlier this month while carrying dozens of World Wrestling Entertainment personalities.
With about 50 WWE Superstars on board, including Damian Priest and Grayson Waller, the jet touched down in Los Angeles after the WWE SmackDown event in Perth, Australia. The journey clocked in at a staggering 9,320 miles (14,999 km), flirting with the record for the longest distance ever flown by a 787 Dreamliner.
Qantas’ Dreamliners are built to seat 236 passengers comfortably, but a “light load” of only 50 larger-than-life wrestlers allowed the aircraft to stretch its wings to near-record distances.
“Special charters like the WWE flights aren’t part of our everyday operations, and when they happen, they bring a unique energy onboard,” said Capt. Richard Tobiano, chief pilot at Qantas.
He recalled flying the group from Sydney to Perth the previous week on an A380, noting that it had “all the excitement of a main event.” The flight from Perth to Los Angeles on the 787 was no less thrilling — a near 17-hour journey that “demonstrated our long-range capability and drew on the unique experience and expertise of our pilots and crew.”
The transpacific flight echoes Qantas’ history of pushing the Dreamliner’s distance boundaries.
The airline’s Project Sunrise program previously tested the aircraft on ultra-long-haul journeys, including an 11,029-mile (17,750 km) nonstop flight from London to Sydney in 2019. Today, Qantas continues to push limits commercially with services like the Perth-to-London nonstop flight, currently the longest scheduled 787 route in operation.
Even though Air Tahiti Nui holds the record for the longest scheduled commercial passenger flight at 9,764 miles (15,715 km) — between Papeete, Tahiti, and Paris, France — the WWE charter reminds aviation enthusiasts that it’s not just about the miles — it’s about who or what takes to the skies. For fans of both aviation and wrestling, seeing a Dreamliner powered by jet fuel and superstars is proof that Qantas is still finding creative ways to stretch its wings.
And with Qantas less than two years away from its Project Sunrise flights, the carrier will probably continue to be in the news for pushing the boundaries of flight.
