Last week Qantas launched its new nonstop service from Perth to London. This historic flight is the first ever-nonstop commercial route between Australia and the United Kingdom. Clocking in with a scheduled flight time of 17 hours and 20 minutes this epic long haul covers over 9,000 miles in the air. The launch of this new ultra-long-haul route has shuffled up the previous list of world’s longest flight by distance. While it didn’t claim the number one spot, it has definitely bumped other marathon routes down on the list. Have a look below to see where this new flight lands on the list of top 10 longest flights.
Longest Commercial Airline Routes By Distance
No two flights are exactly the same, factors such as favorable winds, severe weather, and circumventing no-fly zones can all add to the final flight distance. Calculating exact flight distances can be tricky and come with some grey area. To avoid confusion over which flight is the longest, the most common way to calculate the flight distance is to use the Great Circle Mapper. By generating the distance between the departure and arrival airports down to the mile the Great Circle Mapper is the best tool for calculating nonstop flight lengths. As of April 2018, here is the list of the world’s longest nonstop commercial flights by distance:
1. Auckland to Doha - Qatar 921
Distance: 9,032 mi / 14,535 km
Scheduled Flight Time: 17h 40m
Aircraft: Boeing 777-200 LR (soon to be an Airbus A350)
Inaugural Flight: February 5, 2017
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2. Perth to London – Qantas 9
Distance: 9,010 mi / 14,500 km
Scheduled Flight Time: 17h 20m
Aircraft: Boeing 787
Inaugural Flight: March 24, 2018
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3. Auckland to Dubai – Emirates 449
Distance: 8,824 mi / 14,201 km
Scheduled Flight Time: 17h 05m
Aircraft: Airbus A380
Inaugural Flight: March 2, 2016
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4. Los Angeles to Singapore – United 37
Distance: 8,770 mi / 14,114 km
Scheduled Flight Time: 17h 55m
Aircraft: Boeing 787
Inaugural Flight: October 27, 2017
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5. Houston-IAH to Sydney – United 101
Distance: 8,596 mi / 13,834 km
Scheduled Flight Time: 17h 30m
Aircraft: Boeing 787
Inaugural Flight: January 18, 2018
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6. Dallas-DFW to Sydney – Qantas 8
Distance: 8,578 mi / 13,805 km
Scheduled Flight Time: 17h 15m
Aircraft: Airbus A380
Inaugural Flight: September 29, 2014
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7. San Francisco to Singapore – United 1 & Singapore 31
Distance: 8,447 mi / 13,593 km
Scheduled Flight Time: 17h 15m
Aircraft: United: Boeing 787 / Singapore: Airbus A350
Inaugural Flights: United: June 1, 2016 / Singapore: October 23, 2016
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8. Johannesburg to Atlanta – Delta 201
Distance: 8, 439 mi / 13, 582 km
Scheduled Flight Time: 16h 27m
Aircraft: Boeing 777-200 LR
Inaugural Flight: June 1, 2009
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9. Abu Dhabi to Los Angeles – Etihad 171
Distance: 8,390 mi / 13,503 km
Scheduled Flight Time: 16h 30m
Aircraft: Boeing 777-300 ER
Inaugural Flight: June 1, 2014
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10. Dubai to Los Angeles – Emirates 215
Distance: 8,339 mi / 13,420 km
Scheduled Flight Time: 16h 20m
Aircraft: Airbus A380
Inaugural Flight: October 26, 2008
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With the modernization of more of fuel-efficient planes and the low cost of oil at the moment; airlines are taking more chances of adding these ultra-long-haul flights to their route maps. The current top five longest flights have launched just in the past three years alone. This shows a growing trend of airlines pushing to serve farther destinations. Singapore Airlines recently hinted at using its new ultra-long-range Airbus a350s set to enter their fleet by the end of the year on future nonstop flights between Singapore and New York City. With a distance of 9,537 miles (15,348 km) between SIN-JFK, Singapore Airlines could once again claim the top spot for the World’s Longest Nonstop Flight. Until then, the list above is the most up-to-date but I am looking forward to new routes shaking up this ordering over the next year.
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