Human trials: for the first time in history, passengers will go on an 20-hour flight

For decades, travelers heroically struggled with changing time zones. Now that airlines are introducing record-breaking non-stop flights, efforts to combat debilitating symptoms are turning into a billion-dollar industry.

Фото: Depositphotos

According to Bloomberg, already this weekend there will be a new understanding of the physical and emotional consequences of extra-long transport. Qantas Airways Ltd. will fly from New York to Sydney. No airline has traveled this route without stopping.

The flight will last about 20 hours. It will be the longest flight in the world. Already this Friday, October 18, the plane will leave the US and will land in Australia on Sunday, October 20, in the morning.

Flying will be more than endurance exercise. Scientists and medical researchers will turn Qantas Boeing Co. Dreamliner in a high-altitude laboratory. They will check the pilots for vigilance, while simultaneously monitoring the state of food intake, sleep and the activity of several tens of passengers. The main goal is to see how people stand the test.

Singapore Airlines Ltd. resumed nonstop flights to New York last year. This was due to the development of lighter, aerodynamic aircraft for extra-long flights.

Фото: Depositphotos

Due to the physical demands of passengers, a new market has emerged for products that alleviate the suffering of long-haul flights. Most often bought: melatonin tablets, medicine for fear and anxiety Pfizer Inc. Xanax and Propeaq light-emitting glasses that claim to get your body back on track. There's also a smartphone app and many other potential remedies for jet lag or "jet lag."

The potential customer base is staggering. The International Air Transport Association expects that about 2019 billion people will fly out in 4,6, and in 2037 their number will grow to 8,2 billion.

According to BIS Healthcare, drug demand in 2023 will cost $ 732 million dollars. According to GlobalData, the broader market for sleep disorders, which is dominated by pills, costs 1,5 billion and will increase to 2023 billion by 1,7. More than 80 drugs designed to treat sleep disorders are in clinical development.

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Jet lag usually occurs when a traveler crosses three or more time zones very quickly, leaving the body’s internal clock as before. The main complaint after an extra long flight is overwhelming fatigue during the day or merciless insomnia at night.

Passengers don't just cross time zones. General fatigue, poor sleep, and dryness and air pressure in the cockpit exacerbate symptoms of jet lag, said Conrad Moreira, medical director of the Travel Doctor-TMVC clinic in Sydney, which has been working in this area for over ten years. ,

“I saw disoriented people a week after the flight,” Moreira said in an interview.

He prescribes a number of sleeping pills, especially for anxious passengers. According to him, tablets containing melatonin, which is naturally produced in the body to improve sleep, can also help.

According to Carrie Partch, a biochemist and associate professor at the University of California, each of the billion cells in the human body has its own clock, and vital processes, including heart function, food absorption and metabolism, are disrupted.

“Jet lag is more than just an inconvenience,” Partch said in an interview.

“It's quite destructive from a physiological point of view. If you travel constantly, you may gain weight, have cardiovascular problems, and experience some behavioral changes,” he added.

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Back in 2017, scientists won the Nobel Prize for discovering the molecular mechanisms that control circadian rhythms. According to Partch, in the laboratory you can manipulate the main proteins of the rodent in order to speed up the adjustment of the internal clock, but for people there is no such pill yet.

Фото: Depositphotos

A Friday flight from New York and another one from London at the end of this year are key challenges for Qantas as the company prepares to begin direct commercial flights from these cities to Sydney as early as 2022. The airline calls it Project Sunrise.

Examining the health effects of extra-long flights is crucial for Qantas. The company must obtain permission from the Australian Civil Aviation Authority to allow cabin crews to work longer than 20 hours. The airline also needs a new agreement with pilots who will fly extra-long routes on new planes.

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If successful, Qantas wants to start non-stop routes from the east coast of Australia to South America and Africa.

Airbus SE and Boeing are struggling to create a long-range aircraft that can reach its full-load destination with spare fuel. Qantas plans to decide whether to promote these flights or abandon the idea by the end of 2019.

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