FOUR THINGS ABOUT THE WORLD’S LONGEST FLIGHT.

1 HOW LONG?

After months of planning, Australian airline Qantas has carried out a test flight for what would be the longest non-stop commercial service, delivering passengers from New York to Sydney. The Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner touched down after a flight of 19 hours and 16 minutes. Qantas is seeking to launch non-stop flights between Australia’s east coast and New York and London, saving passengers up to four hours in travel time. The longest non-stop commercial flight currently offered is Singapore Airlines’ 183/4-hour route from Singapore to Newark, which debuted last year. The route uses an Airbus plane designed for ultralong-range travel, with features such as larger windows, higher ceilings and an extra-wide body.

2 TEST FLIGHT

The flight was used to assess the effects of ultra long-haul trips. Tests included monitoring pilots’ brain waves, melatonin levels and alertness and there were exercise classes for passengers. Only 49 passengers were on board to cut weight and allow sufficient range to travel 15,300 kilometres without refuelling. Qantas plans to test the London-to-Sydney route in November and decide by the end of this year whether to offer the new routes.

3 TIME ON BOARD

Two Australian universities were involved in monitoring how the health of the passengers and crew was affected as they crossed multiple time zones. After boarding the flight at 9 p.m. in New York, the passengers were told to set their watches to Sydney hours, where it was lunchtime. Lighting, exercise, caffeine and a spicy meal were then used to keep them awake until what would be nightfall in Sydney. Then they were served a meal high in carbohydrates, told to avoid screens and the lights were dimmed to encourage them to sleep through the Australian night hours.

4 REACTION

Overall, the journey went “really smoothly,” said Qantas Capt. Sean Golding, who led the four pilots operating the service. They were happy with the trip, he said. “We had a lot of interest from air traffic controllers as we crossed through different airspace because of the uniqueness of this flight,” Golding said. Professor Marie Carroll, from the University of Sydney, was with the passengers and said she felt “amazingly good” after landing and expected “minimal jet lag.” She said: “I expect that the passengers will have a normal day today and a normal night’s sleep tonight.