After the two-year break caused by the corona pandemic, the race for the longest non-stop scheduled flight is entering a new round. At the end of 2019, there were already 30 connections with a length of more than 8,000 miles that were regularly flown by airlines.
Until then, the market leader was Singapore Airlines, which operated four routes to North America alone with its fleet of special ultra-long-haul Arbus A350-900 ULR jets: to Newark, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Seattle.
Arab airlines such as Qatar Airways have also been among the record holders and trendsetters with Doha-Auckland flights and Emirates, which have operated the Dubai-Auckland route since March 2016 with the Airbus A380.
Up to 19 hours in the air
Global air traffic has now picked up speed again and non-stop flights are more in demand than ever. Point-to-point connections are not only faster, they also reduce the risk of infection during a trip. In addition, passengers do not have to change planes and wait at other airports.
Pictures from the world’s longest flight
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An analysis of the flight data company cirium for the third quarter of 2022 shows how the market for ultra-long-haul flights has changed. In the period between July and September, 22 routes with a length of 8000 miles and more are now listed.
Even today, Singapore Airlines flights are the measure of all things with four of the ten longest connections. Instead of Seattle, a second airport in New York is now on the flight schedule. The new connection to John F. Kennedy Airport even tops the flight from Singapore to Newark by a few miles. Depending on the wind conditions, the Airbus, which does not have Economy Class and only has seats in Business and Premium Economy Class, can take up to 19 hours to travel the 9,487 miles.
This summer, Qantas will temporarily fly the route from Rome to Perth in Australia non-stop with the Boeing 787. The Australians have also revived their Sunrise project, which will see new non-stop connections between destinations in Europe and the North American east coast with Sydney and Melbourne. In May 2022, it was decided that special Airbus A350-1000s would be purchased for this purpose, which would be able to cover the distances such as London-Sydney non-stop.
As early as this September, Air New Zealand will be operating several times a week between Auckland and New York. And Emirates is also back and has announced that it will once again operate the Dubai-Auckland route non-stop with the Airbus A380 from December 1st.
Also read:
– 10,000 miles: How I survived the world’s longest non-stop flight
– Major order for Airbus: Qantas announces the longest non-stop flights in the world
– Boeing 747: The most beautiful photos of the civil aviation icon