The Australian airline, Qantas Airways will start testing flights from October between New York and London to Sydney. Qantas are testing the flights with only a few staff to see how the human body holds up, before the airline will launch their commercial service.
The world’s longest non-stop flight, scheduled to be around 20 hours, will be simulated with Boeing’s Dreamliner airplanes. During the test flights, the airplane will have 40 passengers onboard – mainly employees, and they will undergo medical checks during the flight.
Qantas hopes to have the direct flights between New York and London to Sydney from 2022. The airline still hasn’t decided if they will use a Boeing or Airbus SE plane for the route, but currently they are deciding on whether to choose Boeing’s 777-8X or Airbus’s long-range A350-900ULR and 1000ULR for the flights.
Besides monitoring the health of the passengers on the test flights, Qantas will also find out if passengers are even able to tolerate living in a cabin for almost one full day. “The things we learn on these flights will be invaluable,” Chief Executive Officer for Qantas Airways, Alan Joyce said on a call Thursday.