Qantas has completed a test of the longest non-stop commercial passenger flight and took the opportunity to use it as research on how the journey could affect pilots, crew and passengers.
Photo by James D Morgan/Qantas.
The aircraft used was a Boeing 787-9 but with only 49 people on board. The actual flying time was recorded at 19 hours and 16 minutes from New York to Sydney, a 16,200-km (10,066-mile) route.
Cabin lighting, pressure and meal times were planned and as part of the research, fitness levels of several passengers and crew were tracked throughout the flight. The pilots wore brain monitoring equipment for the duration of the flight to monitor their alertness when flying as well as their sleep during rest periods.
The company plans to test a non-stop flight from London to Sydney in the next month.
Qantas will decide if it will start the routes by the end of 2019 and if it decides to do so,
services are expected to start operating in 2022 or 2023.
To allow the plane sufficient fuel range and avoid re-fuelling, the flight took off with maximum fuel, restricted baggage load and no cargo.
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