How to survive the longest flight in the world
A DOCTOR friend was far from encouraging. “You’re what?” he asked, on hearing that I was to be the first British journalist to try the world’s longest non-stop commercial flight — a 14 534km odyssey from Doha, Qatar, to Auckland, New Zealand.
“Oh, yes,” I said. “We’ll be crossing 10 time zones and the journey should take about 17½ hours.”
He rattled off a list of dos and don’ts, starting with strict instructions to buy a pair of properly fitting flight stockings to reduce the risk of deep vein thrombosis (DVT), followed by advice to take a small dose of aspirin shortly before take-off to make my blood less inclined to clot.
So, here we are, thundering down the runway in a Qatar Airways Boeing 777-200LR (Longer Range) carrying 323 tons of cargo, including 400 kilos of food, 135 tons of fuel, 259 stoical passengers and their luggage, and nearly a thousand bottles of water.
Then we’re off, lifting into the Arabian sky to begin the marathon journey. For the first few hours, the plane cruises at 33 000ft, but once it is lighter – as it consumes fuel – the pilot will increase altitude to 41 000ft.
There are four pilots and 15 cabin crew. The pilots do five- to six-hour stints, disappearing to their flatbeds between shifts. The flight attendants divide into two groups. After serving the first of several meals, one group adjourns to the back where there’s a long aisle with individual bunks.
“Many of us volunteer to do this route,” says Siddharth, 35, the cabin services director, from Delhi. “There are certain benefits.”
Really? Turns out that the appeal is two days off before a trip and twoand-a-half days off after it. There’s certainly a sense of adventure about the flight. Qatar Airways’ motto is “Going places together”, but there are moments when you can’t help thinking “Going crazy together” might be more apt.
My strategy is far from radical: settle myself in my seat, have a meal, enjoy a movie, followed by a saunter around the block (which is how I view my cabin circuit), some reading, a drink and finally a few hours of shut-eye, before repeating the cycle again. And again …
Before leaving, I had spoken to Mail columnist Dr Max Pemberton about taking a sleeping pill.
“Some people might, but I wouldn’t on a flight that long,” he said. “It could immobilise you for many hours.” The dreaded DVT again.
There is more leg room in economy on this flight than on a regular British Airways or Virgin Atlantic plane from London to New York. But it’s not a lot more space.
There is plenty of entertainment. Both business class – which starts at £4 600 (about R97 300) per person for a round trip from London and gets you flat beds, a la carte eating and a range of wines – and economy, from £879 or about R18 600, offer 560 movies and about 3 000 other options, including games, puzzles and quizzes.
A lot of people are watching the musical La La Land — but as the hours roll past, I’m starting to feel like I am in La La Land.
“Could I have a cup of coffee,” I ask a member of the crew as we hit the 13-hour mark. “Yes, of course,” he says kindly. “Although you do have one in your hand already.”
A 2002 study in the journal Comprehensive Psychiatry said that extra-long flights are followed by “severe sleep disturbance, impairment of cognitive functions and mild depression”.
Certainly, there is a large body of opinion that travelling through several time zones to the east causes worse jet lag because you lose all those hours. After 14 hours, my nostrils feel dry. According to the Journal Of Environmental Health Research, the chance of developing a cold is more than 100
times greater on a flight than on the ground. I drink bottle after bottle of water, which keeps me hydrated.
There are a few announcements from the flight deck, which I appreciate.
But eventually, the captain announces our final descent.
Hallelujah and Hello Auckland! Much as it has been a remarkable experience, I can’t honestly say I’m looking forward to the return leg…