Great news, travelers! Jetlag, one of the worst drawbacks of frequent traveling, could soon be a thing of the past. That is according to an experiment made by Australian Qantas.
Qantas has a plan to establish routes from New York, US, and London, UK, to Sydney in 2025 as part of the Project Sunrise program. The flights would take almost 20 hours, almost guaranteeing severe jetlag for all passengers. In an attempt to make these long flights more comfortable, the airline experimented with a series of inflight experience adjustments, and it appears they did the trick.
As part of the experiment, Qantas made three trial flights on specially designed Airbus A350s with volunteer passengers. During the flight, they adjusted the cabin lighting in order to match the time zone of their final destination. Furthermore, they organized physical activities, changed meal times, and installed a menu that would help passengers remain awake or go to sleep.
After the experiment ended, the volunteers reported that they experienced less severe jet lag, had a better quality of sleep, and experienced better cognitive performance in the two days after flight.
“Given our geography, Qantas has a long history of using imagination and innovation to overcome the tyranny of distance between Australia and the rest of the world,” said Qantas Group CEO Alan Joyce. “Now that we have the aircraft technology to do these flights, we want to make sure the customer experience evolves as well, and that’s why we’re doing this research and designing our cabins and service differently.”
This is definitely encouraging news for all travelers, especially those that frequently fly long distances. If Qantas experiments end up working in practice, expect more airlines to adopt a similar approach and make the flying experience better than ever.