From popping melatonin to fist with toesPassengers have long employed strategies to combat the negative effects of air travel.
But airlines also have a role to play, according to new research from Qantas and the Charles Perkins Center at the University of Sydney.
The study was conducted as part of Qantas sunrise plan The plan is to link Sydney with New York City and London with direct flights by 2025.
Qantas said that while it was capable of completing 20-hour flights, it was looking at ways – from lighting its schedules to eating spicy food – to lighten the journey for passengers and crew.
this survey
Based on preliminary results released in mid-June, researchers used volunteer passengers on three test flights to analyze ways to reduce jet lag, including:
- Adjust cabin lighting and meal times
- Offers a special food and drink menu, including chili, chocolate, and ingredients known to produce hypnotic tryptophan
- Get onboard stretches and workouts
Volunteers were monitored during the flight using wearable technology devices and their reaction times were measured with an online test, according to Press releaseThey also kept daily health logs before, during and for two weeks after the test flight.
The report concluded that the volunteers had “less jet lag (self-reported), better in-flight sleep quality (and) better cognitive performance in the two days after the flight compared to other passengers.”
Volunteers who flew reported that their jet lag was less severe and ended a day or two earlier than expected, according to a summary of the study released last week.
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“Light is critical for reducing jet lag,” says Svetlana Postnovawho studies sleep-wake cycles and circadian rhythms at the Charles Perkins Center at the University of Sydney.
The plane took off from New York City at 9 p.m., and researchers kept the lights on for another six hours, she told CNBC.
The cabin lights went out around 3 a.m. EST, leaving the cabin dark for 11 hours before turning back on during the final two hours of the flight, she said.
This is done to “nudge your body clock toward the destination time zone,” she says.
Lunch is served in the evening
Meals coincided with the lights, Postnova said, noting they were served after takeoff, before the lights were turned off and before arrival.
But Qantas Group chief executive Alan Joyce said the first meal was not dinner but lunch.
“Night flights usually start with dinner and then lights out. For this flight we started with lunch and kept the lights on for the first six hours to match the time of day at our destination. This means you can start reducing jet lag immediately ,” He said In a statement after conducting its first test flight.
Qantas also monitored the brain waves, melatonin levels and alertness of pilots who took part in the 20-hour test flight.
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Qantas and the University of Sydney say research into the brightness and hue of cabin lighting is planned for later this year, and more research into departure and arrival times and seasonal differences is needed.
The results of the test flight have not yet been released, but Peter Sistulli, a professor of sleep medicine at the University of Sydney, described the early results as “promising”.
For now, Postnova says, travelers shouldn’t wait until they land to deal with jet lag — instead, they should begin the process as soon as their flight takes off.
The “wellness zone” on board
Qantas is awaiting its May 2022 order for 12 Airbus 350s while it conducts jet lag studies. According to the press release, deliveries are expected to begin in late 2025, with the New York-Sydney route to follow shortly thereafter.
Joyce said the new nonstop flights would shave about three hours off travel times between New York and London to Sydney.
Passengers exercise during a Qantas test flight from New York to Sydney on October 19, 2019. Once the airline’s new Airbus 350s are delivered, flyers will be able to work out in an onboard “wellness zone”.
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The new Airbus fleet will also feature onboard “Wellness area“, where passengers can stretch their bodies and do simple exercises.
“Our A350 will have about 100 fewer seats than most of our competitors, giving us more room in all classes and a premium economy and economy class passenger,” Joyce said. A wellness area where you can stretch your mind and body.”
As for what passengers will do on the flight, which may be the longest commercial flight in the world, Joyce said: “People can choose how they spend their time, but we will make recommendations based on science.”