Longest flights

Since October 11, 2018, the longest scheduled airline flight by great circle distance is Singapore Airlines Flights 21/22 using an Airbus A350-900ULR between Singapore and Newark, New Jersey,[5] at 15,344 kilometres (8,285 nmi; 9,534 mi).[6]

In March 2020, an Air Tahiti Nui Boeing 787-9 performed the longest-ever scheduled passenger flight by distance, flying non-stop from Faa'a International Airport in Papeete, Tahiti to Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport.[7] Usually, the aircraft has a refuelling stop at Los Angeles International Airport, and all passengers disembark the aircraft and pass through U.S. Customs and Border Protection before reboarding and continue to Paris. However, due to COVID-19 pandemic restrictions, the service opted not to stop at Los Angeles. The one-off flight was also made possible by the aircraft's reduced passenger load, which eliminated the need to refuel. The aircraft flew for just under 16 hours and covered a distance of 9,765 miles (15,715 km; 8,486 nmi), slightly longer than the flight between Singapore and Newark operated by Singapore Airlines. The flight also set a record for the world's longest domestic flight, as it flew between French territories.

Routings may avoid the shorter ground distance of a great circle route to use tailwinds to save time and fuel, shortening the equivalent still-air distance. Typically, the longest flights measured by ground distance traveled are Singapore Airline's flight 21/22 from Singapore to Newark. Both of these routes have the geometrically optimal great circle route near the North Pole, but rather choose to fly over the Pacific Ocean where the assistance of the jet stream is available to save flying time and fuel. The Air India flight from New Delhi to San Francisco flies a longer distance over the Pacific Ocean instead of a shorter route over the Atlantic Ocean to avoid prevailing westerly head winds.[8] AI173 and AI183 fly about 15,100 km (9,300 mi) making it one of longest non-stop flights.[9][10] In general, both of these flights travel about 15,300 km (8,261 nmi; 9,507 mi) in ground distance, and it is not unheard of for particular flights to cover more than 16,000 km (8,639 nmi; 9,942 mi). However, for both of these flights, the great circle distance is among the top 30 longest.[11][12]

Cathay Pacific flights from Hong Kong to New York City-JFK will also sometimes fly 15,000 km (8,099 nmi; 9,321 mi) ground routes, instead of a 12,984 km (7,011 nmi; 8,068 mi) great circle route, for the same reason.[13]

A number of soon to be enabled services, with non-stop flights exceeding 10,000 kilometres (5,400 nmi; 6,214 mi), placing them on or close to the top 30 list, have been announced:

From	To	Airline	Number	Distance	Scheduled	Aircraft	First flight
Brisbane	Chicago–O'Hare	Qantas	QF85/86	14,326 km (8,902 mi; 7,735 nmi)	16:10 to 17:20	Boeing 787-9	September 14, 2020[37]
Auckland	Newark	Air New Zealand	NZ1/2	14,178 km (8,810 mi; 7,656 nmi)	15:40 to 17:40	Boeing 787-9	October 29, 2020[38]
Seattle	Bengaluru	American Airlines	AA200/201	13,000 km (8,078 mi; 7,019 nmi)	16:20 to 16:55	Boeing 787-9	October 25, 2020[39]

According to a published report in September 2015, Miami International Airport (Florida) was in talks with EVA Air and China Airlines of Taiwan to launch before 2018 a nonstop 13,922 km (7,517 nmi; 8,651 mi) flight to Taipei.[40] In June 2016, a chartered China Airlines Boeing 777-300ER carrying Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen flew non-stop from Taipei to Miami before continuing to Panama. The airport director spoke with President Tsai about the opportunity for scheduled service between Miami and Taipei.[41] The airport has been actively pursuing a non-stop flight to East Asia since 2015. There are no non-stop passenger flights between Florida, the third-most populous state in the U.S., and East Asia.[42][43] In May 2017, the region's aviation department director predicted such a flight would happen within the next 24 months.[44]

Qantas is looking at starting non-stop flights between Perth and Paris in 2019 with Boeing 787-9 aircraft.[45] If a capable airliner becomes available, Qantas could launch non-stop flights by 2022 from Australia's eastern capitals to London.[46] Qantas estimates that a Sydney to London flight (17,016 kilometres (9,188 nmi; 10,573 mi)) would take 20 hours, 20 minutes, while a Sydney to New York City flight (16,013 kilometres (8,646 nmi; 9,950 mi)) would take 18 hours, 7 minutes.[46] On October 20, 2019, Qantas demonstrated the New York City to Sydney flight using a Boeing 787-9.[47] The flight took 19 hours, 15 minutes and the 49 people on the plane were staff and selected guests. In order to make the flight possible, the weight had to be precisely trimmed by limiting the number of passengers and cargo weight.

The Airbus A350-900ULR was launched in 2018 with a range of 17,964 kilometres (9,700 nmi; 11,162 mi)[48] and will be capable of flying both routes non-stop (Sydney - London and Sydney - New York City). The Boeing 777-8 is expected to enter service by 2022, have a range of 16,090 kilometres (8,688 nmi; 9,998 mi), and carry up to 365 passengers.[49] The 777-8X will be capable of flying the Sydney to New York City route non-stop with a higher payload than the A350-900ULR. It will also be able to fly Sydney to London non-stop with a low density configuration which allows to carry less than 365 passengers.[50]

Air New Zealand is envisioning non-stop flights from Auckland to Toronto (13,867 km (7,488 nmi; 8,617 mi)) beginning in the early 2020s. The airline has announced an order of Boeing 787-10 aircraft to replace its Boeing 777-200ER fleet.[51]

Vietnam Airlines is planning to use its A350-900 aircraft to fly between Ho Chi Minh City and Los Angeles, a great-circle distance of (13,146 km (7,098 nmi; 8,169 mi)).

Thai Airways is also looking to resume nonstop flights to the US mainland, using the Boeing 787-9 aircraft between Bangkok and San Francisco (12,767 km (6,894 nmi; 7,933 mi)).

El Al is planning a Tel Aviv - Melbourne route, a great-circle distance of 13,736 km (7,417 nmi; 8,535 mi),[52] and has already tested it with an actual flight distance of 14,594 km (7,880 nmi; 9,068 mi).[53]

In August 2015, Emirates announced that nonstop flights between Dubai and Panama City, Panama would begin on 1 February 2016, covering 13,821 km (7,463 nmi; 8,588 mi)[54] in 17 hours, 35 minutes westbound. In January 2016, the start was postponed to 31 March 2016. In early March 2016, Emirates postponed the route until the end of 2016 or early 2017 or "as soon as conditions allow." As of July 2018, no further information has been given on the potential route.[55][56] In 2015, it would have been the world's longest non-stop flight.

In April 2017, Qatar Airways announced that it would begin flying between Doha and San Francisco in 2018. The airline would have used Boeing 777-300ER aircraft on the 13,015 km (7,028 nmi; 8,087 mi) route.[57]

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 war 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. Kennedy and Newark airports serving New York City and Haneda and Narita serving Tokyo).

A direct flight between an origin and final destination has an intermediate stop, with all segments having the same flight number and using the same aircraft. In the following table, the "Origin to final destination distance" column lists the great circle distance between the origin and final destination, excluding the stop. The "All sectors distance" column lists the total great circle distance from the origin to the stop to the final destination.

Notes

^Note 1 Service began on June 28, 2004, at which point it was the longest non-stop commercial flight. This flight was business class only from 2008 to 2013, with 100 seats.[111][112]
^Note 2 Service began on February 3, 2004, at which point it was the longest non-stop commercial flight.[111][112]
^Note 3 This was the longest flight ever operated by Delta Air Lines.[113]
^Note 4 Service began on April 1, 2001, at which point it was the longest non-stop commercial flight.[114]
^Note 6 Now operates with a stop in Munich. Air India still operates a non-stop flight on this same route, however.

‡This was the world's longest flight from its commencement in 1996 until its cancellation in 1998. Now operates to nearby Hong Kong International Airport with the Boeing 777-200ER aircraft.

The table below lists the current longest (by great circle distance) non-stop flights operated by different types of aircraft.

The table below lists the longest (by great circle distance) current and historical regularly scheduled non-stop revenue flights operated by different types of aircraft. The table does not include special promotional or delivery flights, such as shown above.

The table below lists international airline companies with their longest (in mileage) non-stop flight currently in operation.

^b Air India's flight from Delhi to San Francisco generally takes a longer time but has a shorter great circle distance (GCD) than the flight from Mumbai to Washington.