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Sounds like my kind of flight! I love these long non-stop flights (as opposed to a stop in between). Had done the ~17 hour Mumbai-Atlanta non-stop flight and slept for a straight 14 hours of it.

Source & Full Article

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They did the Macarena 10,972 metres above Las Vegas, dined on chilli- and lime-poached prawns and spicy “Jiangxi-style” cod and watched a fair few movies, including the Elton John biopic, Rocketman. Well, they had enough time: 19 hours and 16 minutes to be precise.

Aviation history was made at 7.43am on Sunday when Qantas flight QF7879 touched down at Sydney airport, completing the world’s longest ever commercial flight. It had taken off from New York’s JFK airport at 9.27pm on Friday night. Along the way, it produced the equivalent carbon dioxide emissions of burning more than 700 barrels of oil.

Just 49 people – including six pilots, six members of cabin crew including a chef, a handful of reporters, six frequent flyers and the airline’s chief executive, Alan Joyce – were on board the Boeing Dreamliner flight, designed to test whether passengers can endure the physical and mental effects of extremely long aeroplane journeys.

The flight was restricted to such a small number of passengers in order to ensure that it was light enough to make it all the way to Australia on one tank of fuel. In order to reduce the weight, strict restrictions were put in place, including limiting passengers’ luggage and destocking most of the bar. All the passengers were in business class.
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With the middle east hub coming up significantly (Dubai/AbuDhabi) most US bound services (Emirates/Etihaad) now offer a A380 based 15+ hour flight services into US west coast flying above North pole.

Quite a marvel these long hauls!

Read this news earlier today. What is interesting to note is, this flight was not only testing the aircraft's endurance but also that of the crew and passengers. 19 hours is a tremendous amount of time in a confined environment so while the economics of it might make sense at some point of time, a lot of effort might be going in on the softer aspects. Cranky (+ those who are in good spirits) passengers, exhausted crew (despite only working only specific hours) is just the beginning of it.

The longest I've done is about 15 hours (Abu Dhabi to Chicago) and I didn't mind it too much. But four more hours, and if I'm traveling with my kid, I'm not quite sure!

Should be really taxing on the crew. Feel for them.

I would absolutely hate this. The longest I did was 13 hours and was feeling restless. This was however before we had entertainment options like now on TV. I like to come out and walk after 8 or 9 hours with a break of couple hours. So Europe connections work fine for me.

Qantas Completes First Ever New York to Sydney Non-Stop Commercial Airline Flight

Australian airline Qantas has completed the first non-stop commercial airline flight from New York to Sydney. The carrier reaches another milestone next month, when it will turn 99 and enter its 100th year of operations.

What an achievement !

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QF 7879 from New York to Sydney landed after 19 hours 16 minutes in the air. The current New York to Sydney via Los Angeles flight has a travel time of 22 hours and 20 minutes.

The aircraft used for the research flight was a Boeing 787-9, which is not designed for the 16,200 kilometre (10,200 mile) journey from New York to Sydney. The flight was made with a brand new Boeing 787-9, registration VH ZNI, named “Kookaburra”

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To operate the flight non-stop, the aircraft took-off with maximum fuel and had a restricted passenger and baggage load. This meant that were a total of 49 passengers and crew onboard for this research flight and no cargo.

“All carbon emissions from this flight, and two additional research flights from New York and London to Sydney in November and December, will be offset,” the airline says.

Here is what Qantas Group CEO Alan Joyce, after Flight 7879 arrived in Sydney, said: ‘We know ultra long haul flights pose some extra challenges but that’s been true every time technology has allowed us to fly further. The research we’re doing should give us better strategies for improving comfort and wellbeing along the way.’
“Night flights usually start with dinner and then lights off. For this flight, we started with lunch and kept the lights on for the first six hours, to match the time of day at our destination. It means you start reducing the jetlag straight away. “What’s already clear is how much time you can save. Our regular, one-stop New York to Sydney service (QF12) took off three hours before our direct flight but we arrived a few minutes ahead of it, meaning we saved a significant amount of total travel time by not having to stop,” Joyce added.


So can the rest of us, start flying on this sector ? Well the answer is, not yet.

This latest flight was a trial conducted by Qantas’ for planned Ultra Long Haul flights in the future. The airline has named this ambitious effort as ‘Project Sunrise’, named after the airline’s historic ‘Double Sunrise’ endurance flights during WWII. These flights were in the air long enough to see two sunrises.

Only two new widebody jetliners will have the range to operate Project Sunrise flights on a commercial basis. Airbus has offered its A350 to Qantas, while Boeing has proposed the brand new 777X.

A final yes/no decision on Project Sunrise expected by end 2019.
If a go ahead is given, then commercial flights would start in 2022/23.

QF 7879 will be followed by two more research flights as part of the Project Sunrise evaluations – London to Sydney in November and another New York to Sydney in December. Emissions from all research flights will be fully offset.

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Note: all information and pics from Qantas News Room

This trial New York to Sydney run was used to run a series of experiments to assess health and well-being onboard.

Tests ranged from monitoring pilot brain waves, melatonin levels and alertness, through to exercise classes for passengers. Cabin lighting and in-flight meals were also adjusted in ways that are expected to help reduce jetlag.

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The lead pilot on flight Flight 7879 was Qantas Captain Sean Golding, who led the four pilots operating the service.

“The flight went really smoothly. Headwinds picked up overnight, which slowed us down to start with, but that was part of our scenario planning. Given how long we were airborne, we were able to keep optimising the flight path to make the best of the conditions.” “Overall, we’re really happy with how the flight went and it’s great have some of the data we need to help assess turning this into a regular service,” said Captain Golding.

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Qantas has been working hard to start direct flights from Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane to London and New York.These direct flights would save passengers up to four hours in total travel time. Qantas already operates the only direct link between Australia and Europe, with its successful Perth-London route, which started in March 2018.

Fast Facts
• Months of flight planning has gone in to determining the optimum flight path, including running daily plans to establish wind and weather patterns
• Four pilots will be on rotation throughout the flight. Two additional pilots will be in the cabin, having flown the aircraft to New York. Total flight hour experience on the aircraft is 67,000.
• The aircraft will operate with a maximum fuel load of approx. 101,000kg. Projected fuel remaining upon landing is approximately 6,000kg which translates to about 90 minutes of flight time.
• Maximum Take-Off Weight for a 787-9 is 254,000kg. QF 7879 JFK to SYD will depart at 233,000kg take-off weight with the same amount of fuel 101,000kg that Qantas departs Perth to London flights with.
• Nearly half of the aircraft weight on take-off is fuel. The other is aircraft, passengers and bags.
• Flight will travel at 85% the speed of sound which is around 930 kilometres an hour. Cruising altitude will start at 36,000 feet for the first few hours and then as the aircraft weight reduces with fuel burn, the cruising altitude will increase to 40,000 feet.
• Pantry galley weight will be 1,500kg’s (food, trolleys etc.)

Source: Qantas

Minimising Jetlag

A study of passengers travelling on Qantas has been studying the habits of passengers travelling on its long-haul flights, which have revealed the tricks travellers are currently using to help minimise jetlag. The Australian carrier is conducting studies with CPC researchers to identify scientifically backed methods to reduce fatigue. Detailed inflight studies were conducted across almost 500 passengers travelling on Qantas international flights longer than nine hours.

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Specialist sleep researcher Dr Yu Sun Bin, who is part of the CPC team, said while most people actively try to reduce their jetlag, the study with Qantas shows they are not doing what is most effective. “We know that going outdoors for sunlight at the destination is one of the most important strategies for syncing the body clock, but only 47 per cent of passengers made the effort to do it,” she said. “Drinking more than a few glasses of alcohol will make jetlag worse. It might make us fall asleep faster but beyond a certain point, it also disrupts the quality of sleep and causes dehydration.”

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As per the initial study findings released before the New York – Sydney research flight - 54% of people surveyed used ear plugs or noise cancelling headsets to help them sleep on long haul flights. 38% drank alcohol to aid their sky slumber and 10% used sleeping tablets. 39% chose healthy food when they arrived at their destination to help with recovery.

The study also revealed what passengers aren’t doing, with less than half of travellers (47%) surveyed not making a conscious effort to venture out into the sunshine upon arrival – a proven way to overcome jetlag.

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Qantas is already implementing new strategies for customers travelling on its longest flight – Perth to London. These are light therapy in the Perth Transit Lounge to help passenger acclimatise to the time zone, outdoor areas in both the lounge and terminal to provide exposure to natural light and a Wellbeing Studio in the lounge to encourage passengers to stretch.

Project Sunrise Research Flights

Qantas is repurposing three Boeing 787-9 delivery flights and using them to conduct studies on crew and passengers with the aim of improving wellbeing.

Six Qantas Frequent Flyer volunteer passengers took part in the 19-and-a-half-hour flight from New York to Sydney with a unique inflight experience designed around recommendations from University of Sydney’s Charles Perkins Centre (CPC) researchers.

The volunteer passengers wore wearable technology devices and followed a specially designed sleep, food and beverage and physical movement schedule. Qantas has been working with sleep researchers from the Cooperative Research Centre for Alertness, Safety and Productivity (Alertness CRC) who will carry out research on pilots and cabin crew.

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“Project Sunrise is pushing the boundaries even further. We know we need to think harder about crew and passenger wellbeing when you’re airborne for almost 20 hours, and that’s why this research is so important. “A lot of what we’ll be doing is world-first. We’ll be fitting pilots with equipment to monitor their brain patterns when they’re on the flight deck and when they’re resting. “The passenger research will test alternatives to how airlines have managed inflight service for decades. Usually with night flights, passengers are provided with dinner shortly after take-off and then lights are turned off. But this may not necessarily be the best way to help reset a passenger’s body clock to the destination time zone,” says Joyce.

“Every time a new aircraft has allowed us to fly for longer, people naturally ask about the comfort factor. The fact that the longest flight on our network today, Perth to London, also has our highest customer satisfaction rating shows that you can design an ultra-long service that passengers enjoy. Plus it has the added benefit of getting you to your destination several hours faster, door to door.”

Qantas is one airline which has longest flights along with Singapore Airlines, Qatar Airways, Emirates to name a few. Here is an interesting documentary on how Qantas operates these long haul flights. Its an old documentary so some of you might have seen it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zAjBo6OdQ4Q

QANTAS has the world's best sustained flight safety record of any major airline current or past.

The key point here is this:
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The flight, on a brand new Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner named Kookaburra (a type of Australian kingfisher), was the first of three test flights exploring the practicalities of ultra-long distance commercial aviation as part of Qantas’s Project Sunrise.
Observations from this test flight are:
Distance covered: 8747nm (16200km)
Flight time: 19h 15m
Using Boeing B787-9 (typical range: 7,635nm / 14,140km)

Longest scheduled commercial flight currently: SIN-EWR (by Singapore Airlines)
Distance: ~8640nm (~16000km on average)
Flight time: 18h on average (from Flightware.com)
Using Airbus A350XWB-900ULR (typical range: 9,700nm / 18,000km)
It has a 161-seat configuration (67 Business and 94 Premium Economy seats)


Longest flight by a commercial airliner: HKG-LHR (non commercial)
Distance: 11664nm (21602km)
Flight time: 22h 42m
Using Boeing B777-200LR (typical range: 8,555nm / 15,843km)


The QANTAS flight was clearly conducted as a test flight to study the effect of long haul flights on passengers and crew. The equipment in this case, the B787-9, will not be adequate if they want to start a commercially viable service on this route. The aircraft has to be severely payload restricted if it has to fly the route. If QANTAS really want to start revenue service on this route, I believe that the equipment will be something different.

Help me understand.

They are pushing the limits of endurance in terms of fuel and range, fair enough. But I don’t get the fuss being made about the performance and ‘condition’ of pilots and passengers over a 19 hour flight. I mean, there are plenty of long distancers here on this forum who drive 20+ hours continuously with no mul fuel and bio breaks, yours truly included. Personally speaking, I drive all by myself and the family also doesn’t complain after so many hours in the vehicle. So many train journeys are over 2 and 3 nights. So, what is the big deal about something similar happening in civil aviation despite having redundancies like multiple pilots and tools like autopilot?

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Originally Posted by A350XWB (Post 4678361)
The equipment in this case, the B787-9, will not be adequate if they want to start a commercially viable service on this route. The aircraft has to be severely payload restricted if it has to fly the route. If QANTAS really want to start revenue service on this route, I believe that the equipment will be something different.

No Aeroplane in service currently have the range to do this on a one go & thats exactly the challenge qantas have thrown to Airbus & Boeing. The competiting product for longest routes are A350 & upcoming 777X. Based on the results of these test flights, one of these two will be selected & Ordered. Again it depends on many variable factors at play for this to be a viable commercial product. I beleive Qantas is more or less inclined towards boeing at the moment. Personally, my wish is A350 for such long flight. Some how, I always found Airbus to be better than Boeing.

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Originally Posted by Shreyans_Jain (Post 4678422)
Help me understand.

So, what is the big deal about something similar happening in civil aviation despite having redundancies like multiple pilots and tools like autopilot?

I am not expert but aviation is a compliance sensitive & costly bussiness. More than anything else, this helps qantas understand the nitty gritty of running such a UHLR flight.

These flights are being used kind of POC for full revenue service for LHR <>SYD & JFK<>SYD .

How are headwinds taken into account for limit of endurance flights?

Regards
Sutripta.

Great feat by Qantas and the Dreamliner, however, I am not so sure about the research related to this flight.

19-20 hours is a long flight for the operating crew. However, unless Qantas plans to only have business class seats on this flight, the passenger research on this particular flight for me is not relevant.

If you really want to study effects of ultra-long haul flights on passengers, it has to be focused more on the ones sitting in economy class.

For me, flight SQ21/22 (Singapore Airlines), which already operates for more than 18 hours of flight duration (Singapore - Newark - Singapore) takes the cake. At least it is carrying almost 180 people and some cargo in Business and Premium Economy configuration.

I will wait and watch how Project Sunrise actually becomes a reality as from where I see it, the 787 Dreamliner lacks the range to do so with more than "handful" passengers and "some" cargo.


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