Over time, commercial airlines using fixed-wing aircraft have established a number of scheduled ultra long-haul non-stop flights, reducing the travel time between distant city pairs as well as the number of stops needed for passengers travels, thereby increasing passenger convenience. For an airline, choosing to operate long flights can also build brand image as well as loyalty among a set of flyers, therefore competition among airlines to establish the longest flight occurs.
Definition Measurement method The length of a flight can be defined in different ways; the most common measure is great-circle distance, the shortest distance across the curvature of the Earth for two airports' ARPs.
As the only measurement that remains consistent between a specific city-pair and unaffected by operational factors, it is the standard used to represent flight distances in commercial aviation and is used by governing agencies like ICAO, flight schedule providers and airlines themselves.
Alternative definitions For the sake of disambiguation, other terms used in reference to alternative definitions of "longest flights" (and also incur operational variance) include:
Flight time – (the total time of a flight's operation) which varies based on multiple operational variables including: headings flown (see ground distance below), equipment capabilities, or even air traffic congestion (e.g., NAT-OTS and airport holding patterns). A subvariant of this is "Flight endurance" which is used in referring to a specific operated flight, usually recorded with observers, specialized equipment, or other such formal arrangements that are not commonly found in commercial flights. Flight scheduled time is another commonly reported figure that refers to the duration of a flight, published by a flight's operator. This is an unrelated/unreliable figure that incorporates further variables by airlines to reflect their operations and manage customer expectations that allow for variation in boarding procedures, anticipated time of day ground congestion, and even time allocated for remote stand operations. Ground distance traveled: actual ground distance covered (using routing that is not entirely on a great-circle route and therefore greater). Flights commonly fly non-great-circle routes for operational reasons such as: favorable winds/meteorological conditions, regulatory/political restrictions, safety/equipment constraints (such as ASHTAMs and ETOPS limitations), or even cost savings (optimization of overflight payments).
Flight types There are many different types of flights globally operated by different aircraft for different industries and purposes. The term "longest flight" most commonly refers to flights that are commercial, passenger and scheduled, such that the flight details are published and tickets are available for purchase.
While the term "longest flight" most commonly refers to non-stop flights, direct flights with stops (same flight number for the whole journey) might also be compared on some occasions.
Airliners The longest-range Airbus jetliner in service is the Airbus A350-900ULR, which is capable of flying with up to 250 passengers in mixed seating. A standard A350-900 can fly with 325 passengers. Airbus is currently developing and testing a ULR variant of the A350-1000 for Qantas which will have a longer range of about .
The longest-range Boeing airliner in service is the 777-200LR, which can cover with 301 passengers. Boeing also considered developing a 777-200LR derivative for Qantas. It would have three additional auxiliary fuel tanks (six total), a lighter interior derived from the Boeing 787 Dreamliner, and lower-density seating, enabling it to fly between Sydney and London with a range of just over 18,500 kilometres (11,510 mi; 10,000 nmi). The announced Boeing 777-8 will be capable of flying with 350 to 375 passengers, with the Boeing 787-9 being able to fly with 290 passengers.
Many ultra long-haul, non-stop routes that used to be uneconomical are being made viable by the Airbus A330neo, Airbus A350 XWB, and Boeing 787 Dreamliner. For example, Singapore Airlines Flights 21 and 22, launched in 2004, were discontinued in 2013, as operating costs were vulnerable to fluctuations in oil prices. Passenger experience was also different from other routes, because the A340 operated in an all-business-class layout; maintaining sufficient guest traffic and controlling expenses becomes challenging, making the model economically unviable. Flight durations exceed 16 hours and sometimes fuel savings are achieved by taking advantage of the jet stream. Accommodations including specially designed cabins (Stretching zone, sky bar and sleep pod, etc.) and high-speed internet have been introduced accordingly, to set a new standard for long-haul service.
History In the 1910's, the world's first commercial intercity air routes were operated by airships. With the rise of fixed-wing aircraft, records for longest flights started to emerge. Since the first scheduled commercial passenger flight in 1914 that covered , records for the longest flight (by great-circle distance) were rapidly set and continue to be set today.
1920s and 1930s
The longest non-stop commercial flights of the 1930s were operated by flying boats, which were the predominant aircraft type of the time for long-range flight, in part because they did not require large airports capable of receiving large aircraft.
1940s and 1950s
1960s and 1970s
1980s and 1990s
2000s and 2010s In the late 2000s/early 2010s, rising fuel prices coupled with the 2008 financial crisis and the Great Recession caused the cancellation of many ultra long-haul, non-stop flights. This included the services provided by Singapore Airlines from Singapore to both Newark and Los Angeles that were ended in late 2013. But, as fuel prices have since decreased and more fuel-efficient aircraft have come into service, many ultra long-haul routes were reinstated or newly scheduled.
2020s
Current longest flight By great-circle distance
The longest-ever scheduled passenger flight was Air Tahiti Nui flight TN64 using a Boeing 787-9, flying non-stop from Faaʻa International Airport in Papeete, Tahiti to Paris–CDG, a distance of in a scheduled duration of 16 hours, 20 minutes. This route was operated from March to April 2020.
This route was previously operated with a refueling stop at LAX, where all passengers would disembark and pass through United States Customs & Border Protection, then re-board and continue to Paris. However, to comply with COVID-19 pandemic restrictions banning European travelers from entering the United States, the airline opted not to stop at Los Angeles in March and April 2020. The route was also made possible by the reduced load of about 150 passengers, which eliminated the need to refuel. This route also set a record for the world's longest passenger flight, as it flew between French territories.
By ground distance traveled Routings may avoid great-circle routes, despite their shorter ground distance, for a variety of reasons, such as to avoid headwinds and/or use tailwinds to save time and fuel.
On 9 November 2020, the record for active longest flight (measured by ground distance traveled) was set by Singapore Airlines' flight SQ24 between Singapore-Changi and New York–JFK in the U.S. Both SQ24 and its return flight SQ23 have a geometrically optimal great-circle route near the North Pole of approximately . However, SQ24 to New York is typically flown a ground distance of around over the Pacific Ocean where jet streams can assist, while SQ23 back to Singapore holds the current record for the second longest flight by ground distance as it sometimes opts, instead of the westward polar route, to fly a ground distance of eastward, across the Atlantic Ocean, when favorable jet streams winds are available to save flying time and fuel.
Similarly, the two Air India flights from Delhi to San Francisco, AI173 and AI183, fly an eastward ground distance of about over the Pacific Ocean instead of the shorter polar great-circle route of about to avoid prevailing westerly headwinds and save almost two hours of flying time. Both these flights can travel with some variation in ground distance, with a report of for the first such flight in 2016, and it is not unheard of for particular flights to cover more than .
Cathay Pacific flights from Hong Kong to New York–JFK sometimes fly ground routes, instead of a great-circle route, for the same reason.
After the Russian invasion of Ukraine in early 2022, aircraft registered in or operated by multiple countries, including the European Union member states, the United Kingdom, Japan, and Switzerland, were banned from using Russian airspace. In response a number of flights from Japan to Europe changed to a polar route over Alaska and northern Canada. For example, Swiss International Air Lines flight LX161 from Tokyo–Narita to Zurich often flies this route, sometimes covering a ground distance of or longer, compared to a great-circle distance of . Others, such as Lufthansa's flight LH716 from Frankfurt to Tokyo-Haneda, instead avoid Russian airspace by flying over the Caucasus, Central Asia, and China.
Longest passenger flights Non-stop flights (top 30, by great-circle distance) The following table lists the world's longest non-stop scheduled passenger routes by great-circle distance. The actual distance flown, however, can be longer than the great-circle distance for a variety of reasons, such as avoiding severe weather, taking advantage of favorable winds aloft, detouring around closed airspace, and diverting around conflict zones.
For the purposes of this table, multiple flights operated by the same airline between the same airports are counted as one flight, while different airlines operating between the same airports are counted separately. Also, each airport pair is counted separately, even though some cities have multiple airports supporting long-range flights (e.g. Heathrow and Gatwick airports serve London, and Haneda and Narita serve Tokyo).
Rank From To Airline Flight number Distance Scheduledduration Aircraft First flight 1 Singapore AirlinesSQ 23 18:55 A350-900ULR 2NewarkSQ 2119:103Qatar AirwaysQR 92117:10777-200LR 4QantasQF 917:30787-95MelbourneQF 2217:406Paris–Charles de GaulleQF 3317:107QF 417:50Air New ZealandNZ 1 8 EmiratesEK 449 17:25 A380-800 9 China SouthernCZ 8031 14:55 A350-900 10 Singapore AirlinesSQ 37, SQ 35 17:50 11 United AirlinesUA 101 17:30 787-9 12 QantasQF 8 17:00 787-9A380-800 13 Philippine AirlinesPR 127 16:40 A350-900 A350-1000 14 San Francisco Singapore United AirlinesUA 1, UA 29 17:10 787-9 Singapore Airlines SQ 31, SQ 33 A350-900A350-900ULR 15Johannesburg–O. R. TamboAtlantaDelta Air LinesDL 20116:50A350-900 16 Los Angeles EmiratesEK 215 16:20 A380-800 17 SaudiaSV 41 16:10 777-300ER 18 Qatar AirwaysQR 739 16:00 A350-1000 19Dallas/Fort WorthBrisbaneAmerican AirlinesAA 717:15787-920Rome–FiumicinoQantasQF 516:40 21 Philippine AirlinesPR 119 16:15 A350-900 22 EmiratesEK 211 16:20 A380-800 23Cape TownAtlantaDelta Air Lines DL 21116:20A350-900 24Dallas/Fort WorthHong KongCathay Pacific CX 87517:15A350-900 A350-1000 25 EmiratesEK 225 16:55 A380-800 26DohaQR 73715:30A350-1000 27 Cathay Pacific 16:10 777-300ERA350-900A350-1000 28San FranciscoAdelaideUnited AirlinesUA 20715:55787-929Seattle/TacomaSingaporeSingapore Airlines SQ 2717:00A350-900 30 Houston–Intercontinental Qatar AirwaysQR 713 15:55 A350-1000
Direct flights (top 30, by city pair great-circle distance)