Qantas to begin test flights for world’s longest flight

Qantas will begin running test flights for its 19-hour ultra long-haul routes from Australia to London and New York from October, it announced on Thursday.

The Australian airline is scheduled to carry out three research flights over three months to “gather new data about inflight passenger and crew health and wellbeing”, it said in a release.

The flights, to be undertaken by the new Boeing 787-9s, will be re-routed from its planned delivery route from Seattle to simulate two routes – London and New York to Sydney.

The flights are part of the planning for Project Sunrise, the airline’s goal to operate regular, non-stop commercial flights from Australia’s east coast cities Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne to London and New York.

Each flight will have a maximum of 40 people that includes crew, who will all be fitted with wearable technology devices and take part in specific experiences at stages of the approximately 19 hour flights.

Scientists and medical experts will monitor aspects such as sleep patterns, food and beverage consumption, lighting, physical movement and inflight entertainment to assess impact on health, wellbeing and body clock.

Qantas Group CEO Alan Joyce said that ultra-long haul flying presents a lot of common sense questions about the comfort and wellbeing of passengers and crew.

“For customers, the key will be minimising jet lag and creating an environment where they are looking forward to a restful, enjoyable flight. For crew, it’s about using scientific research to determine the best opportunities to promote alertness when they are on duty and maximise rest during their down time on these flights.

The research results, which will help shape cabin design, inflight service and crew roster plans, will also help to improve Qantas’ existing long-haul flights, Mr Joyce said.

Qantas has already conducted data on passenger sleep strategies on its direct Perth–London service, and some of these initial findings will be assessed further as part of these dedicated research flights.

Customer feedback on food choices, separate stretching and wellbeing zones and entertainment options will also be tested.

Airbus and Boeing have both pitched aircraft (A350 and 777X) to Qantas that are capable of operating Project Sunrise flights with a viable commercial payload. A final decision on Project Sunrise – which depends on aircraft economics, regulatory approvals and industrial agreements – is expected by the end of December 2019.