Australia's Qantas masters longest nonstop New York-Sydney flight

SYDNEY - The longest nonstop passenger flight touched down in Australia on Sunday morning after more than 19 hours in the air, a milestone journey from New York that Qantas Airways hopes to parlay into commercial success.

Qantas flight QF7879 took 19 hours and 16 minutes to fly directly from New York to Sydney in the first of three "ultra long-haul" journeys planned by the airline this year.

The national flag carrier is operating the test flights - which also include one from London to Sydney - as it weighs a rollout of regular services on marathon routes from the United States and Britain to Australia.