On Sunday, 20th October 2019, at 7:43 am, aviation history was made when Australia’s flag carrier Qantas (QAN.AX) flew non stop from New York to Sydney completing the world’s longest-ever potential commercial flight covering 16,200 km journey which lasted up to 19 hours, 16 minutes. This was a test flight which was researching on the impact of this long flight journey of nearly 20 hours on the pilot, crew and passengers.
What’s In It?
Qantas had just around 49 people including pilots, cabin crew, chef, reporters, frequent flyers, airline’s chief executive, Alan Joyce who were all on board to test whether passengers can endure the mental and physical effects of this extremely long airplane journey. The flight had a small number of passengers, along with limited luggage travelling in business class, and no cargo to ensure that the airplane was light enough to make it all the way to Australia from the USA on one tank of fuel. By the end of this over 19 hours long continuous journey, the flight still had enough fuel that could sustain another 70 minutes of travel.
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The objective behind this test flight undertaken with a team of researchers was to monitor the lighting, activity sleep and consumption patterns of the passengers, the crew’s melatonin levels. The brain wave patterns of pilots were also tracked using brain monitoring devices. The experiments were conducted by researchers on the crew, passengers and the pilots to assess the fatigue and jet lag experienced by them during this extremely long flight. Qantas said in a statement that the aim of this research was to increase health and wellness, identify optimum crew rest and work periods, along with minimizing jetlag. According to Qantas Captain Sean Golding, the test flight was successful in both the research aspect as well as completing the remarkable feat of distance ranging to a whopping 16,200 km in around 19 hours, with comfortable amount of fuel left.
What’s More?
With an increased and growing demand for air travel, carriers worldwide are looking into ultra-long-haul travel. Australia’s Qantas just achieved the unthinkable and indeed created a history. It can be quite tiring for passengers to take connecting flights for long air journeys. So ultra-long-haul travel would ensure that the passenger would be comfortable travelling a distance in one airplane rather than stepping down and taking a connecting flight.
Well if you’re wondering, about the fatigue and jetlag that might be difficult to cope during something like a 19 hour long air journey, then Qantas’ test flight with research might surely ensure you that with modern technology, advanced facilities, your air travel would be definitely comfortable, and will keep in mind your mental and physical health. Qantas Airline’s Chief Executive, Alan Joyce, even spoke to a reputed global agency, that the passengers were relaxed , comfortable and energized during this long flight journey. And Qantas will be having special areas for economy class passengers to exercise during the flight journey and maintain some sort of physical movements, along with special nutritional food, to keep up with their metabolism. Qantas airline also plans to test a non-stop flight from London to Sydney. They will be making the decision by the end of this year whether to start the new routes by 2022 or 2023. So are you up for a long air journey?