What sitting in economy on Qantas’ 20-hour flights will be like

(CNN) — The world’s longest flight: nonstop, 20 hours, as you recline in your wide armchair and decide whether you want to relax with the very best Champagne, enjoy a chef-designed meal with a traveling companion seated opposite, or get the crew to make your sumptuously soft bed with fresh linens.

That’s what’s on offer for the six first-class passengers on board Qantas’ Project Sunrise direct flights to Sydney from London and New York starting three years from now, and they can expect to pay the best part of five figures for it.

What about the 140 economy class passengers who will be at the back of the 12 Airbus A350-1000s that the airline has ordered to work on the service?

Qantas isn’t telling. “We don’t have any updates at the moment but we are eager to keep you updated, and will share more when we have it,” a spokesperson told us.

We do know, though, that Qantas is already planning a Wellbeing Zone, which looks to be an area around one of the galley kitchens where you can stretch, maybe do some yoga poses, and possibly just stand around for a while.

And, of course, Qantas will work hard at having a great selection of movies and TV shows for you to enjoy on big new inflight entertainment screens, as well as food and beverages that it’ll design especially for your wellbeing on longer flights.

But that’s likely it.

Ian Petchenik, host of the AvTalk aviation podcast, tells CNN that “while a lot of attention has been paid to Qantas’ first class for Project Sunrise, I think the real differentiator for passengers in the back of the aircraft is going to be the soft product.

“You can only improve nine-abreast economy seating so much, so finding ways to make a 20-hour flight in one of those seats palatable is going to come down to what else Qantas can offer those passengers.”

I’m a specialist aviation journalist with more than a decade going in-depth with all kinds of people at airlines, airplane manufacturers, designers, and seatmakers to figure out how every inch of the plane is used. And since Qantas isn’t talking, here are my professional deductions about what’s likely to be on offer on board.

First off, there isn’t much likelihood of anything really revolutionary. The three years to…