Qantas to fly non-stop from Sydney to London this year
Qantas is pushing ahead with trials of ultra-long range flights between London and Sydney and Sydney and New York.
It announced that it will carry out test flights on the 19-hour routes, which will take two hours longer than its existing longest flight, launched last year between London and Perth.
The proposed new routes are part of Qantas’ long-haul project Operation Sunrise, which plans to provide non-stop flights between Australia’s east coast and London and New York.
As he announced a 17% drop in Qantas pre-tax profits to AU$1.3 billion fo for the past financial year, the airline’s group chief executive Alan Joyce said: "There is plenty of enthusiasm for Sunrise but I have to say it is not a foregone conclusion.
"This is ultimately a business decision and economics have to stack up. And if they don’t, we won’t do it."
Test flights will be carried out over three months from October, using Boeing 787-9s carrying 40 people each. No tickets will be sold for the test flights, although the planes will be fully fitted out.
A major focus will be how people onboard are coping with the long-haul journeys and its impact on their bodies.
Scientists and medical experts from Sydney’s Charles Perkins Centre will monitor sleep patterns, food and beverage consumption, lighting, physical movement and inflight entertainment to assess the flight’s impact on health, wellbeing and body clocks.
Researchers will study pilots’ levels of melatonin — the hormone that regulates the wake-sleep cycle — before, during and after the flights.
Pilots will also wear an electroencephalogram device that tracks brain wave patterns and monitors alertness, which will help establish work and rest schedules for crew on long-haul routes.
"Ultra-long-haul flying presents a lot of common sense questions about the comfort and wellbeing of passengers and crew. These flights are going to provide invaluable data to help answer them," Joyce said.
"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 downtime on these flights.
"Flying non-stop from the east coast of Australia to London and New York is truly the final frontier in aviation, so we’re determined to do all the groundwork to get this right.
"No airline has done this kind of dedicated research before, and we’ll be using the results to help shape the cabin design, in-flight service and crew roster patterns for Project Sunrise."
Linsey McNeill
Editor Linsey McNeill has been writing about travel for more than three decades. Bylines include The Times, Telegraph, Observer, Guardian and Which? plus the South China Morning Post. She also shares insider tips on thetraveljournalist.co.uk
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