Passengers put to test on 19 hour flight from New York to Sydney

QANTAS has carried out a test flight for what would be the longest non-stop commercial service, delivering passengers from New York to Sydney.

A Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner touched down after a flight of 19 hours and 16 minutes, which 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 9,500 miles without refuelling.

Two Australian universities were involved in monitoring how the health of the passengers and crew was affected as they crossed multiple time zones.

Immediately after boarding the flight at 9pm 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.

Prof Marie Carroll, from the University of Sydney, was with them 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.

“It’s all an experiment to see if airlines can adjust their schedule of food, beverages, exercise and lighting to be in sync with the destination time.”

‘It’s all an experiment to see if airlines can adjust their schedule to be in sync with the destination time’