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.
The research
In line with preliminary results released in mid-June, researchers used volunteer passengers on three test flights to research ways to scale back jet lag, including:
- Adjusting cabin lighting and mealtime schedules
- Providing special food and beverage menus that included chili, chocolate and ingredients known to provide sleep-inducing tryptophan
- Performing onboard stretches and exercises
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.”
Flight volunteers reported their jet lag wasn’t as severe and ended one to 2 days sooner than expected, in accordance with a summary of the research released last week.
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“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.
Serving lunch at night
Meals were aligned with the lighting, said Postnova, noting they were served after takeoff, before the lights were turned off and before arriving.
However the initial meal wasn’t dinner — it was lunch, said Qantas Group CEO Alan Joyce.
“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.
Qantas also monitored brain waves, melatonin levels and application of pilots who flew the 20-hour test flights.
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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.
An onboard ‘wellbeing zone’
The jet lag research is being conducted while Qantas awaits 12 Airbus 350 aircraft it ordered in May 2022. Delivery is anticipated to start in late 2025, with the Latest York-Sydney route starting shortly thereafter, in accordance with the press release.
Joyce said the brand new non-stop flights will reduce travel times between Latest York and London to Sydney by some three hours.
Passengers exercise during a Qantas test flight from Latest York to Sydney on Oct, 19, 2019. Flyers can do that in an onboard “Wellbeing Zone” once the airline’s latest Airbus 350s are delivered.
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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.”