Australian airline Qantas operates 19 ½-hour London-Sydney flight
P E R T H , A u s t r a l i a — Australia's national carrier Qantas on Friday successfully completed a 1 9 ½ - hour, nonstop f l i ght f r om London t o Sydney, which was used t o run a series of t ests to assess the effects of ultralong-haul flights on crew fatigue and passenger jetlag.
T h e B o e i n g 7 8 7 - 9 Dreamliner took off from L o n d o n ' s H e a t h r o w A i r p o r t o n T h u r s d a y morni n g a n d t o u c h e d down at Sydney Airport 4 5 m i n u t e s b e h i n d schedule at 12: 30 p. m. Friday.
The 11,060-mile journey was part of Project Sunrise — Qantas' goal to operate regular, nonstop commercial flights f r o m Au s t r a l i a ' s e a s t coast cities of Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne t o L o n d o n a n d N e w York.
Las t month, Qantas completed the first nons t o p f l i g h t f r o m New York to Sydney, which t o o k 1 9 h o u r s a n d 1 6 minutes.
Another New York to Sydney flight is expected next month to round out the project.
There were 52 people — m o s t l y Q a n t a s employees — on board.
They participated i n v a r i o u s e x p e r i men t s , i ncluding usi ng wearable technology devices to track sleep patterns, f ood and drink i ntake, l i g h t i n g a n d p h y s i c a l movement.
A f i n a l d e c i s i o n o n whether the ultralonghaul flights will become a commercial reality i s expected by t he year's e n d , wi t h t h e s e r v i c e potentially launching by 2022.
It was the second time a commercial airline has flown the route. The first was in 1989, with a journey time of 20 hours and 9 minutes.
Ahead o f t he f l i g ht , Qantas chief executive Alan Joyce said the airl i ne wants t o i mprove c o mfort o n l o ng- haul flights.
“We know that travelers want room to move on these direct flights, a n d t h e e x e r c i s e s we encouraged on the first research f l i ght seemed to work really well,” he said.
“So, we're definitely l ooking t o i ncorporate o n - b o a r d s t r e t c h i n g z o n e s a n d e v e n s o me s i mpl e mod i f i c a t i o n s like overhead handles to encourage l ow i mpact exercises,” he added.
J oyce and Australian P r i me Mi n i s t e r S c o t t Morrison welcomed the arrival of crew and pass e n g e r s a s t h e a i r l i n e celebrates its centenary year.