Qantas on Thursday said it will run "ultra long-haul" test flights in the coming months from
New York and
London to
Sydney in order to assess the health of pilots and passengers, as it eyes commercial services on the marathon routes.
Qantas last year introduced the first direct service from the western
Australian city of Perth to London, with the 17-hour journey one of the longest passenger flights in the world.
"Flying non-stop from the East Coast of Australia to London and New York is truly the final frontier in aviation, so we're determined to do all the groundwork to get this right," Qantas CEO Alan Joyce said in a statement.