New York: Qantas New York to Sydney flight, a non-stop flight with nearly 20 hours in the air took off on Friday.
The flight, which was scheduled to depart New York at 9 pm from the American megalopolis, is the first of three planned test flights involving the new Boeing 757-9s aircraft which are set to cover new direct routes between Sydney and, London and New York, reports Efe news.
The flight will be covering a distance of about 17,000 km with a time span of 19 hours-and-a-half.
Qantas Group CEO Alan Joyce said that the airline was “excited to be taking existing research strategies to the next level by conducting interactive onboard research using rigorous scientific protocols”.
The study will be conducted by scientists from the University of Sydney’s Charles Perkins Centre and researchers from the government’s Cooperative Research Centre for Alertness, Safety and Productivity, who will monitor the sleep cycles and alertness levels of the pilots and cabin crew.
The tests are part of Project Sunrise, Qantas’ planned new direct flights from Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane to London and New York, which the airline wants to implement by 2022.
At present, the world’s longest direct flight is offered by Singapore Airlines, which links the city-state with Newark, New Jersey in 18.5 hours.
