Qantas flight QF7879 managed to finish what is dubbed as the world’s longest non-stop passenger flight in Sydney on Sunday.
The flight arrived in Australia over 19 hours in the air.
Qantas flight QF7879 took 19 hours and 16 minutes to fly from New York to Sydney. This is the first among the three ‘ultra long haul’ flights the company is aiming to accomplish within the year.
The carrier, that also includes flights from London to Sydney, is set to rollout services from the United States to Australia.
Only 49 people joined the longest flight in order to minimize the weight on board and give sufficient fuel for the 16,000 kilometer travel without the need to refuel.
“It’s a really historic moment for both the airline and world aviation,” Qantas CEO Alan Joyce said in a statement.
“This is the first of three test flights that’s going to come up with recommendations about how we manage pilot fatigue how we actually manage passenger jetlag,” he told members of the media.
The airline official said that they were able to ‘get things right’ and the flight feels shorter than the 19 hours flight.
Qantas partnered with Australian universities to monitor the effect of jetlag and health of passengers and furthered that four pilots took control during the long flight.
