Qantas seeks volunteer frequent flyers to tackle jetlag

If you are a Qantas Frequent Flyer member and plan to fly long-haul with the airline out of Sydney over the next three years, you might be invited to participate in its latest research into mitigating the effects of jetlag on ultra-long-haul flights.

The research comes as Qantas moves closer to the 2026 anticipated launch of ultra-long-haul direct services between east coast Australia and New York and London under Project Sunrise.

Research participants must be Qantas Frequent Flyer members and flying in economy or premium economy on eligible routes at particular times from Sydney to Los Angeles, Johannesburg, London and New York. In return, volunteers participating in the research will receive 50,000 Qantas Points.

The study, which will be conducted periodically over the next three years, is part of the airline’s ongoing work with the University of Sydney’s Charles Perkins Centre.

Participating in the study will take around two-and-a-half weeks, with research focused both in-flight and on the ground and involving light, food intake, sleep and physical movement. A researcher from the Charles Perkins Centre will be contactable for study participants throughout the research.

Qantas has been working with experts in nutrition, sleep, physical activity and complex system modelling from the Charles Perkins Centre for many years, with their studies informing the lighting, temperature, food and beverage options, and overall cabin service on the airline’s ultra-long-haul services from Perth. Direct services to London Heathrow were launched in March 2018, with direct flights to Rome and Paris following.

Under its Project Sunrise initiative, Qantas plans to launch direct services between Sydney and London and New York with Airbus A350-1000 ULR (ultra-long-range) aircraft modified with an extra fuel tank. Following a number of setbacks, including the COVID pandemic and aircraft delays, those flights are now expected to launch in mid-2026. The flights will take 19-20 hours, compared with 15-17 hours between Perth and London.

In 2019, Qantas conducted three ultra-long-haul research flights in conjunction with the Charles Perkins Centre to gather data about passenger and crew wellbeing on such flights.

Operated by Boeing 787-9s, the 40 people onboard wore wearable technology devices and took part in specific experiences at varying stages of the approximately 19-hour flights, with researchers monitoring sleep patterns, food and beverage consumption, lighting, physical movement and inflight entertainment to assess effects on health, wellbeing and the body clock.