Qantas Airways, the flag carrier of Australia and its largest airline by fleet size on Thursday said it will run “ultra long-haul” test flights in the coming months from New York and London to Sydney so as to assess the health of pilots and passengers, as it considers commercial services on this marathon routes.
Earlier Qantas announced its aim of operating direct flights between London, New York, and three Australian cities — Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne — by 2023.
Three flights aboard Boeing 787-9 aircraft scheduled from October, with up to 40 passengers and crew on the 19-hour flight.
Those on board the flight will be subject to medical checks, while their sleep patterns and food consumption will be monitored, as Qantas airways proposes to launch non-stop commercial flights from Australia’s east coast to London and New York.
Last year Qantas introduced its first direct service from the western Australian city of Perth to London, with the 17-hour journey which is one of the longest passenger flights in the world.
“Flying non-stop from the East Coast of Australia to London and New York is truly the final frontier in aviation, so we’re determined to do all the groundwork to get this right,”as said by Qantas CEO Alan Joyce..
Even with record revenues, the Australian flag carrier said its after-tax profit fell to Aus USD 891 million (USD 604 million), down from Aus USD 953 million the earlier year.
