A new era of non-stop long-distance flights is opening up and qantas is leading the change with its “project sunrise.” It has successfully completed its second such flight on a trial basis to cover the longest-ever commercial route in the world. The flight was from London to Sydney and the duration was 19 hours and 19 minutes using a Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner. Qantas chief executive Alan Joyce was on the flight and after landing at Sydney he said, “We saw a double sunrise.” At the airport, dignitaries were present to welcome the team. Among them were prime minister Scott Morrison, opposition leader Anthony Albanese, and Qantas chairman Richard Goyder.

The Guardian describes the test flight in brief. There were just 40 people on board, including crew. Most of them were employees of the airline. They were fitted with monitors to keep track of various parameters of the human system related to sleep patterns, food and drink intake, lighting and physical movement.

Nonstop long distance flights

This Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner is not the first aircraft to Travel nonstop on the same route. That credit goes to a Boeing 747-400. It was in August 1989, it flew with only crew, and is now in a museum.

However, for Qantas, this was the second long distance nonstop flight. The previous one was from New York to Sydney last month. That was a shorter route compared to the present one from London to Sydney.

The Guardian provides some more details.

The capacity of a Dreamliner is up to 300 but, being a trial run Qantas had to be cautious. When it landed, it still had fuel left for another 1 hour 45 minutes of flight. At present, it is not possible to undertake such a journey with a full load of passengers and cargo without refueling. Incidentally, the Australian national carrier is celebrating its 100 years of service.

It plans to launch these services on a regular basis by 2023 and it will be subject to obtaining the necessary permission from the authorities and necessary agreement with pilots.

Long distance nonstop flights could be the future

According to CNN, the Qantas' nonstop flight from London to Sydney smashed two aviation records and witnessed two sunrises along the way. It was an experimental research flight and became the world's longest passenger flight by a commercial airline in terms of distance covered and duration in the air. The success of this flight paves the way for connecting Sydney to destinations across Europe and the United States. Those who want to use this option will have to wait until 2022 or 2023 because the airline will have to get the green signal from Australian aviation regulators. Such flights would mean passengers, pilots, and cabin crew must be in a position to remain in the air for up to 22 hours without the feel of the ground beneath their feet.
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