World’s longest flight set to take off
SYDNEY: Qantas Airways will ditch the traditional in-flight service routine for this weekend’s marathon non-stop trip from New York to Sydney.
At 19 hours, the unprecedented journey is set to be the world’s longest flight.
It’s a key test run as Qantas prepares to start direct commercial services connecting Sydney with New York and London as soon as 2022.
As part of research aimed at reducing jet lag, rather than following the standard practice of serving food and dimming the lights after takeoff, Qantas plans to keep everyone awake for six hours.
They’ll be helped by food containing hot peppers and spices. Qantas’s Boeing 787 Dreamliner will carry only about 50 passengers and crew to give the plane the range to reach Sydney on Sunday without stopping, travelling approximately 16,000 km without re-fuelling.
SYDNEY:A plane and its passengers are set to test the mental and physical limits of longhaul aviation when Qantas operates the first direct flight by a commercial airline from New York to Sydney this weekend.
In the first of three “ultra long-haul” test flights planned by Australia’s national flag carrier this year, researchers will monitor the effects on passengers of the 19-hour nonstop journey.
Up to 40 passengers and crew - most of them Qantas employees - will be on board the Boeing 787-9 when it departs New York on Friday. The plane is scheduled to arrive Down Under on Sunday morning.
Passenger numbers have been restricted to minimise the weight on board and give the plane sufficient fuel range to travel approximately 16,000km without refuelling, heading west over the Pacific.
No other airline has ever achieved the feat, which Qantas CEO Alan Joyce has called the “final frontier in aviation”.
Scientists from two Australian universities will be on board to monitor passengers’ sleep patterns, melatonin levels, and food consumption.
Pilots will also wear a device that tracks their brain waves and alertness.
With a 15-hour time difference between New York and Sydney, the impact of jetlag will be closely watched.
Qantas last year introduced the first direct service from the Perth to London, with the 17-hour journey one of the longest passenger flights ever.