Test flights of Santa’s sleigh are going so well that designers in the Sleigh Department agree that a newer version is not needed at this time. The sleigh has been on Version 2 for months.

It is typical for the sleigh design to be tweaked up to ten times or more before a new sleigh is completed for Santa’s flight. Like this year, the test flights begin in June and run the rest of the year right up until December 23rd in order to make it ready for Santa.

Over the course of that timeline new versions of the sleigh are announced as improvements are made.

But no significant improvements to this latest sleigh design have been found. The sleigh has continued to steadily perform better and better in test flights.

“If Santa were to take off on his annual trek right now – in the current version of the sleigh – we are confident he would break the 30-hour flight time record that he seeks,” said Elf Quinton Q. Quigley, head of Research and Development at the North Pole.

But just because the test flights are going so well does not mean they will end any time soon. Elf Roger Star, Director of North Pole Flight Command, said the test flight schedule will continue as planned right up until Santa’s flight time. They will continue to look for improvements that could be made.

Test flights have recently concentrated on Sector 1, South East Asian areas of Sector 2 and now is on the east coast of Africa in Sector 3. Trackers note that the sleigh recently has covered larger areas as speed trials continue.

The test flight reindeer team of nearly 5,000 reindeer are not tiring of the pace. While they have been at work for months Santa’s A-team of reindeer and other reindeer who work in support of Operation Merry Christmas have yet to check in for the season at the North Pole.

They are expected back at the North Pole at any time.