The healthy options on board Qantas' new Dreamliner. Photo / Supplied
Qantas has unveiled a menu it hopes will help passengers beat jet lag on ultra long haul flights.
Healthy poke bowls and a herbal tea designed especially for Qantas are among the new dining choices on Qantas' new 787 Dreamliner Perth-to-London menus to increase hydration and help reduce jetlag.
While there will be a wide range of alcohol on board the sample menu includes plenty of healthy alternatives that may have had Australian cricketer David Boon scratching his head.
According to folklore - and never confirmed by Boon himself - the star batsman notched up just over half a century of cans of beer on a Qantas/British Airways flight to Heathrow in 1989 on the way to an Ashes tour.
Passengers in Qantas' new Dreamliner travelling in business class and premium economy will be offered remedy lemon and ginger kombucha, cold pressed probiotic infused lemonade and a Qantas sleep tisane - an infusion that can be made of herbs, leaves, bark, roots, berries, seeds and spices.
Food up front includes tuna poke salad, seared Cone Bay Baramundi and poached egg, kale, quinoa, grilled halomi, pistachio and green tahini dressing.
Among the offerings in economy there's marinated beef, citrus, cumin and zucchini salad.
The Dreamliner service, the first to regularly link Australia and Britain, starts later this month and will be one of the longest non-stop flights.
The airline is working with the University of Sydney's Charles Perkins Centre to develop the new approach to long-haul travel ahead of the flights.
The centre brings together researchers across a variety of fields from nutrition to physical activity, sleep and complex systems modelling.
"The centre's research has already influenced what meals and beverages we'll be serving onboard and when, cabin lighting and temperature as well as the airport lounge experience,'' said Qantas chief executive Alan Joyce.
Influential Australian chef Neil Perry has worked with the centre on new menus for the 787 flights.
''We are excited that one of Australia's best culinary minds is teaming up with the best scientific minds to design the best possible menu to look after both health and hunger," Joyce said.
Research projects include strategies to counteract jetlag, on-board exercise and movement, menu design and service timing, pre and post-flight preparation, transit lounge wellness concepts and cabin environment including lighting and temperature.
Joyce has said the partnership had the potential to transform the journey for passengers, particularly on the long-haul routes that the Dreamliner is scheduled to operate.
While the Dreamliner aircraft has jetlag reducing technology, including larger windows, increased cabin humidity and lower cabin altitude, the findings from the Charles Perkins Centre researchers will allow Qantas to design and develop a range of new innovations and strategies.
"We're all looking at how we can prepare passengers ahead of their long-haul flight, and of course on board and when they arrive at their destinations; we want our customers to feel their best at the end of their flight with us," Joyce said.
One route had three times the average rate of cancellations.