The world’s longest flight has successfully been tested with 50 passengers and crew travelling non-stop for nearly 20 hours from New York to Sydney, Australia. The Qantas Flight 787-9 journey which is being used to test the viability of regular ultra-long-haul flights travelled 10,066 miles in 19 hours and 16 minutes before touching down in Australia early on Sunday morning with fuel to spare.

The journey on the new Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner was an experiment to see how ultra-long-haul travel affects people on board as it is currently not possible for commercial aircraft to fly such a distance with a full load of passengers and cargo.

To ensure that the plane could go the distance, the flight had maximum fuel, a restricted baggage load and no cargo.

A team of researchers were also deployed to monitor lighting and activity as well as the sleep patterns and consumption levels of passengers. They also kept a close eye on crew melatonin levels and tracked the brain patterns of pilots during the flight.

“This is a really historic moment for Qantas, a really historic moment for Australian aviation and a really historic moment for world aviation,” Qantas Chief Executive, Alan Joyce, who was on the flight said after the plane landed.

“We know ultra-long-haul flights pose some extra challenges but that’s been true every time technology has allowed us to fly further. The research we’re doing should give us better strategies for improving comfort and wellbeing along the way,” he added.

The captain of the flight, Sean Golding said after landing: “The flight was very successful from two components. The first one was research.

“And also the feat of distance. That flight last night was 16,200 kilometres. We were airborne for 19 hours and 16 minutes and we landed here in Sydney with a comfortable 70 minutes of fuel.”

Patrick Hatch, a Sydney Morning Herald reporter who also travelled on the flight said passengers took part in exercise sessions and even danced to the Macarena in an effort to maintain circulation while on the aircraft.

Mr. Hatch added that the flight was three hours quicker than the normal journey time and that people around him felt pretty good as they landed in Sydney.

Qantas, which already holds the record for the world’s longest commercial flight also offers a full scheduled service on its direct flights between London Heathrow and Perth on Australia’s west coast, a journey which takes more than 17 hours.