The longest non-stop flight of all time

The longest non-stop flight of history landed yesterday morning in Sydney, coming from New York, after more than 19 hours of travel, a feat that the Australian company Qantas wishes to turn into a commercial success.

Experimental flight QF7879 flew over exactly 19 hours and 16 minutes of flight. It is the first of a series of three flights with which the Australian airline intends to evaluate this year the viability of very long flights for the creation of regular commercial lines.

Qantas general manager Alan Joyce described the moment as a "real historic moment" for the airline and the aviation community. "This is the first of three experimental flights with which we will see what recommendations can be made on how to deal with pilot fatigue, as well as the shift of passengers," he told reporters after arriving at Sydney.

The Boeing 787-9 took off Friday night from JF Kennedy Airport in New York with only 49 people on board, mostly Qantas employees. The weight was reduced, allowing enough fuel to be shipped for the 16,000 kilometers of the road. Four pilots were taken turns in charge of the plane. On board the Qantas flight, researchers from two Australian universities went on-site to observe how passengers sleep and feed and to control their level of melatonin, the "sleep hormone".

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