Qantas' historic non-stop London to Sydney test flight lands
After 19 hours and 19 minutes in the air, Qantas' non-stop flight from London to Sydney has landed.
The new Boeing 787 Dreamliner, named Longreach, touched down at Sydney International Airport at 12:28pm on Friday.
The 'Project Sunrise' research flight touching down in Sydney on Friday. Qantas
The 'Project Sunrise' research flight began its journey in London's famous Heathrow Airport on Thursday.
Commanded by Captain Helen Trenerry, the service recreated Qantas' historic non-stop flight between the two cities 30 years ago.
The 1989 trip, involving a 747-400 carrying no passengers, was the first time a commercial airline had flown the route direct; this week's flight was the second time.
A meal served during the service. Qantas
The 19 hour 19 minute route saw the Dreamliner fly across 11 countries in Europe and Asia, before crossing the Australian coast near Darwin.
According to Qantas, it slashed the total travel time by roughly three hours when compared with current one-stop services to London from Australia's east coast.
For the 'Project Sunrise' service, the airline repurposed a delivery flight that would have flown empty from Seattle back to Australia, positioning it in London instead.
The test flights aim to improve the wellbeing of crew and passengers on ultra long-haul journeys. Qantas
During the flight, Qantas shared updates on social media, including a message from the on-board crew that read: "We're honoured to be operating this historic service."
The London to Sydney flight comes after Qantas' non-stop New York to Sydney service last month, with a third research flight planned by the airline.
The test flights endeavour to improve the wellbeing of crew and passengers on ultra long-haul journeys, using devices to monitor their sleep and movement while in the air.
"We're honoured to be operating this historic service." Qantas
"We've got a lot of scientists and we're looking at different ways of making the operation actually great for our passengers," the airline's CEO Alan Joyce told Today ahead of the New York-Sydney flight.
"We're also measuring what impact it has on the pilots so we can get the regulator to agree to longer flights.
"We'd like to make this a daily occurance, both from Sydney to New York, Melbourne to New York, Melbourne and Sydney to London as well, eventually."
