World's longest domestic flight

Air Tahiti Nui Flight 64 (TN64/THT64) was the world's longest domestic flight, and the longest scheduled passenger flight ever. It was created due to restrictions imposed by the United States over international flights in a context of the COVID-19 pandemic. The flight, operated by Air Tahiti Nui, was between Papeete in French Polynesia and Paris in metropolitan France, traversing a distance of and taking 16 hours, 26 minutes. It was a domestic flight as French Polynesia is part of the French Republic.

Historical records Longest domestic flight

The world's longest commercial domestic flight was flight TN64 operated by Air Tahiti Nui, a French airline based in French Polynesia. The flight operated between Tahiti's Faa'a International Airport near Papeete to Charles de Gaulle Airport near Paris, France. It covered a great-circle distance of taking approximately 16 hours and 20 minutes. With its great-circle distance, it set the record both for world's longest domestic flight as well as the world's longest non-stop commercial flight.

Air Tahiti Nui began the route on 15 March 2020, departing Faa'a International Airport at 3:14AM local time as flight TN64, flying nonstop to Charles de Gaulle Airport and landing at 6:00AM local time on 16 March, taking 15 hours and 46 minutes. The Boeing 787-9 operating the flight (registered F-OTOA) carrying between 130 and 150 passengers (and no cargo on the eastbound route). TN64 continued to operate the flight through March and April 2020, with its final flight on 19 April 2020.

Prior to this record, the record, at the time, for the longest non-stop commercial flight by great-circle distance was held by Singapore Airlines, with their Singapore to Newark route at a distance of .

Longest domestic flight (cargo only) French Bee operated the longest nonstop domestic cargo flight, from Tahiti to Paris on 14 May 2020, departing Faa'a International Airport at 10:51AM local time and landing at Orly Airport at 3:40PM local time on 15 May 2020, taking 16 hours and 49 minutes. This flight did not carry passengers in part as Orly Airport was closed to all commercial passenger traffic from March to June 2020. The airline further claimed its Airbus A350-900 operating the flight (registered F-HREY) flew a ground distance of , thus surpassing the distance of Air Tahiti Nui's flight, but was not operated as a commercial passenger flight and no tickets were sold, instead carrying approximately 5 tons of cargo.

Background The non-stop routes flown by certain airlines were developed as consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic and the subsequent restrictions imposed by the United States over international flights which came into effect on 11 March 2020. Before the pandemic, the flight between Papeete and Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris was operated by Air Tahiti Nui as well as Air France with an intermediate stop at Los Angeles International Airport, while the flight between Papeete and Orly Airport in Paris was operated by French Bee with an intermediate stop at San Francisco International Airport. The airlines serving these routes also held traffic rights to transport passengers between either Paris or Papeete and the intermediate stop. Both the Boeing 787-9 used by Air Tahiti Nui and the Airbus A350-900 used by French Bee were claimed by their respective airlines to have greater fuel and energy efficiency compared to other similar or older long-haul widebody aircraft, while flying with a smaller payload to be able to achieve the long distance without stopping for additional fuel.

Air Tahiti Nui, French Bee and Air France have all pursued other stopping points to cover the long distance between French Polynesia and metropolitan France, including stopping at Pointe-à-Pitre International Airport in the French overseas territory of Guadeloupe, as well as stopping at Vancouver International Airport in the Canadian province of British Columbia. However, unlike the intermediate stops in the United States prior to the pandemic, the stop in Vancouver was solely for transit, as none of the airlines could discharge or take on additional passengers at the intermediate stop.

Current record Longest domestic flight (active) Originally launched in 1994, the longest currently active domestic flight is between Saint-Denis, Réunion, France and Paris, France (Charles de Gaulle Airport) and covers in 11 hours 40 minutes. It is operated today by two carriers, Air France and Air Austral. Previously operated by Air France as a direct flight with refueling stops, it changed to a non-stop flight following the completion of the new longer runway at Saint-Denis that could accommodate Air France's fully loaded 747s in November 1994. Today it is operated using Boeing 777 and 787s, capable of covering the 11 hour domestic flight with ease. While much shorter than the longest domestic flight ever, it remains the longest operating today, beating the second longest domestic flight from Paris' Orly Airport to Saint-Denis, Réunion by just .

Longest domestic flights (top 30, by great circle distance) RankFromToFlightDistanceScheduled durationAircraft1 Paris–CDG Saint Denis, ReunionAir France AF 647/673Air Austral UU 971/97511:40777-300ER2 Paris–OrlyCorsair SS 773French Bee BF 701/703/70512:05A330-900A350-10003 MarseilleCorsair SS 633 11:20A330-9004 Paris–CDG MayotteAir Austral UU 9769:45787-85 New York–JFK HonoluluDelta Air Lines DL 312Hawaiian Airlines HA 5111:25767-300ERA330-2006 NewarkUnited Airlines UA 36311:25767-400ER7 Aruba AmsterdamTuifly Netherlands OR 3649:55787-88 CuraçaoKLM KL 736Tuifly Netherlands OR 36810:15A330-300777-200787-89 BonaireKLM KL 765Tuifly Netherlands OR 36510:10A330-200A330-300787-810 Washington D.C.–Dulles HonoluluUnited Airlines UA 34510:46767-400ER11 AtlantaDelta Air Lines DL 65010:16A330-300767-300ER12 DetroitDelta Air Lines DL 79710:29A330-30013 Atlanta KahuluiDelta Air Lines DL 36810:10A330-30014 Paris–CDG CayenneAir France AF 9529:15777-20015 Paris–OrlyAir Caraibes TX 5709:10A350-90016 Amsterdam Saint MaartenKLM KL 7259:15A330-20017 Paris–CDG Fort-de-FranceAir France AF 8108:50777-300ER18 Paris–OrlyAir Caraibes TX 5108:55A330-200A350-900A350-100019 Chicago–O'Hare HonoluluAmerican Airlines AA 75United Airlines UA 2199:35787-8787-1020 Kailua-KonaUnited Airlines UA 66American Airlines AA 89 (starting December 2026)9:239:45787-821 Paris–CDG Pointe-à-PitreAir France AF 7629:00777-300ER22 Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky Moscow–SheremetyevoAeroflot SU 17319:10777-300ER23 Chicago–O'Hare KahuluiUnited Airlines UA 2029:25787-824 Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk Moscow–SheremetyevoAeroflot SU 6274/62848:50A330-300777-300ER25 Vladivostok Saint PetersburgAeroflot SU 29838:40A330-30026 Nantes Fort-de-FranceCorsair SS 7448:45A330-90027 Vladivostok Moscow–SheremetyevoAeroflot SU 17018:50A350-900777-300ER28 Minneapolis/Saint Paul HonoluluDelta Air Lines DL 3129:15A330-300767-300ER29 HoustonUnited Airlines UA 2538:40777-20030 Anadyr Moscow–SheremetyevoAeroflot SU 68668:05747-400777-300ER

Discontinued flights RankFromToFlightDistanceScheduled durationAircraftFinal Flight1 Papeete Paris–CDGAir Tahiti Nui TN 6416:20787-919 Apr 20202 Los Angeles GuamBraniff BN 505/92611:20747-200747SP13 Oct 19803 Boston HonoluluHawaiian Airlines HA 8911:35A330-20019 Nov 20254 Newark KahuluiUnited Airlines UA 4210:55767-300ER6 Jan 20245 Orlando HonoluluHawaiian Airlines HA 8510:50A330-2008 Sep 20226 CharlotteAmerican Airlines AA 258/56910:06777-2003 Jan 20227 Lyon Pointe-à-PitreCorsair SS 7429:20A330-30021 Apr 20238 Sochi KhabarovskTransaero UN 21389:30767-20025 Oct 20159 Paris–Orly Saint MaartenAir Caraibes TX 5208:25A330-20013 Dec 2022

Future routes The below new services have been announced and scheduled for operation. These announced flights have a distance exceeding , these will be placed on the top 30 list:

From To Flight Distance Scheduled duration Aircraft First flight Boston HonoluluDelta Air Lines TBD11:35A330-30019 Dec 2026 Minneapolis/Saint Paul KahuluiDelta Air Lines TBDTBAA330-30019 Dec 2026

See also Longest flights

References