World's longest flight takes off: non-stop London to Sydney

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The world’s longest flight has departed from London Heathrow bound for Sydney Airport.

The flight is the second of Qantas’ research flights designed to explore the effects of jet lag over longer distances.

The London to Sydney flight is the longest in the world in terms of distance. Flight time is expected to be just over 19 hours, similar to Qantas’ first research flight that flew from New York to Sydney four weeks ago.

The London to Sydney flight is 1,500 kilometres longer than the initial test flight, but tailwinds will mean the flying time will be around the same.

Jet lag studies
Dubbed Project Sunrise, the initiative is part of Qantas' efforts to research the viability of introducing commercial non-stop flights from Australia’s east coast to London and New York.

Flight number QF7879 took off at 6.10am GMT today. It is expected to land in Sydney at 12.18pm on Friday, November 15. You can track its progress here.

There are 52 test passengers and crew on board the flight, and the Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner will travel around 930 kilometers per hour. It will fly with a cruising altitude of 35,000 feet and increase to 40,000 feet after fuel burn.

Passengers in London boarded in the early hours of Thursday morning and can look forward to eating an evening meal in a few hours time. Qantas will serve an in-flight supper soon after departure to encourage passengers to fall sleep at around 10am, London time.

This is part of researchers plans to help travellers adjust their body clocks to Sydney time as quickly as possible.

Cabin lighting and temperature is also carefully controlled on the flight to induce sleep when required or to encourage passengers to remain awake at the right times.
Source: https://www.thenational.ae

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