Human Guinea Pigs Set To Take Part In Qantas's Non-Stop Flight From London To Sydney

A group of human guinea pigs are set to fly on a direct flight from London to Sydney with Qantas at 6am on Thursday (14 November).

The non-stop flight will have no paying punters on board and will instead use the trip to gather information about the impact the 19-and-a-half-hour or so flight will have on 'passenger and crew health and wellbeing'.

The Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner is part of Qantas's Project Sunrise plans, which earlier this year saw a long-haul, non-stop test flight between New York and Sydney, which was also used as an opportunity to gather data.

Perhaps surprisingly, this isn't actually the first time the airline has attempted this journey - all the way back in 1989 it sent a 747-400 ferry flight on the journey and the plane now stands on display in a museum in Sydney.

Qantas

Covering a distance of 17,000km (10,566 miles) is no mean feat and passengers on this flight will be kept under strict watch, with cabin lighting and temperature carefully monitored and meals being specially chosen.

Passengers will also be encouraged to stretch and meditate, with special 'move and stretch' zones on the planes as well as other areas where those on board can chat or socialise. Sounds fun, eh?

Qantas CEO Alan Joyce told the Daily Mail: "We know that travellers want room to move on these direct services, and the exercises we encouraged on the first research flight seemed to work really well.

"So, we're definitely looking to incorporate on-board stretching zones and even some simple modifications like overhead handles to encourage low impact exercises."

Professor Corinne Caillaud, from the Charles Perkins Centre, which is helping carry out the research added: "We are hopeful that the interventions and strategies we tried on the first research flight helped passengers better manage the challenges of crossing multiple time zones. From a research point of view, it was something quite novel.

PA

"We're looking forward to this second flight, which will involve passengers eating supper at breakfast time, with the aim of encouraging them to sleep at 10am in the morning London time to help avoid light and reset their body clock to Sydney time."

If all goes well, Qantas is hoping that these mega-long-haul flights will become commercially available for passengers in the future and could be on offer as early as 2023.

Topics: uk news, travel, Australia

Claire Reid

Claire is a journalist at LADbible who, after dossing around for a few years, went to Liverpool John Moores University. She graduated with a degree in Journalism and a whole load of debt. When not writing words in exchange for money she is usually at home watching serial killer documentaries surrounded by cats. You can contact Claire at [email protected]

@ClaireReid19