Start on the plane, says Qantas

From popping melatonin to making fists along with your toes, passengers have long employed strategies to combat the negative effects of air travel.

But airlines can play a task too, in accordance with latest research from Qantas and the University of Sydney’s Charles Perkins Centre.

The research is a component of Qantas’ Project Sunrise program, which plans to link Sydney to Latest York City and London via non-stop flights in 2025.

Qantas says that while it has the potential to fly the 20-hour flights, it’s studying ways — from lighting schedules to eating spicy foods — to make the journey less arduous for passengers and crew.

Volunteers were monitored using wearable tech devices throughout the flight, and their response times were measured through online tests, in accordance with the press release. In addition they kept a each day health log before, during and for 2 weeks after test flights, it said.   

The report concluded that, compared with other passengers, the volunteers “experienced less severe jet lag (self-reported), higher sleep quality inflight [and] higher cognitive performance within the two days after flight.”

“Light exposure is critical for reducing jetlag,” said Svetlana Postnova, who studies sleep-wake cycles and circadian rhythms on the University of Sydney’s Charles Perkins Centre.

The flight departed Latest York City at 9 p.m., and the researchers kept the lights on for an extra six hours, she told CNBC.

Lights were turned off around 3 a.m. Eastern Standard Time, and the cabin stayed dark for 11 hours, before being turned back on for the ultimate two hours of the flight, she said.

That was done “to nudge the body clocks towards the destination time zone,” she said.

“Night flights often start with dinner after which lights off. For this flight, we began with lunch and kept the lights on for the primary six hours, to match the time of day at our destination. It means you begin reducing the jetlag immediately,” he said in a press release after the primary test flight was conducted.

Studies on the brightness and color tone of cabin lighting are planned for later this 12 months, and more research on departure and arrival times and seasonal differences is required, in accordance with Qantas and the University of Sydney.

Findings from the test flights haven’t been published, but Peter Cistulli, professor of sleep medicine on the University of Sydney, called the early results “promising.”

For now, Postnova said, travelers shouldn’t wait until they land to combat jet lag — reasonably, they need to start the method as soon as their flight departs.

The brand new Airbus fleet may also have an onboard “Wellbeing Zone” where passengers can stretch and perform easy exercises.

“Our A350s can have about 100 fewer seats than most of our competitors, which provides us room for extra space in all classes in addition to a Wellbeing Zone for Premium Economy and Economy passengers to stretch,” Joyce said.

As for what passengers do on the flights, which can likely be the longest industrial flights on the earth, Joyce said: “People can select how they spend their time but we’ll make recommendations based on science.”