Qantas recently launched its new non-stop service from Perth to London.
This historic flight is the first non-stop 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 more than 9000 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 the word’s longest.
No two flights are exactly the same, factors such as favourable 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 non-stop flight lengths.
As of April 2018, here is the list of the world’s longest non-stop commercial flights by distance:
1. Auckland to Doha — Qatar
Distance: 9032m/14,535km
Scheduled flight time: 17h 40m
Aircraft: Boeing 777-200 LR (soon to be an Airbus A350)
Inaugural flight: February 5, 2017
2. Perth to London — Qantas
Distance: 9010m/14,500km
Scheduled flight time: 17h 20m
Aircraft: Boeing 787
Inaugural flight: March 24, 2018
READ MORE: What to expect on board Australia’s longest flight
3. Auckland to Dubai — Emirates
Distance: 8824m/14,201km
Scheduled flight time: 17h 05m
Aircraft: Airbus A380
Inaugural flight: March 2, 2016
4. Los Angeles to Singapore — United
Distance: 8770m/14,114km
Scheduled flight time: 17h 55m
Aircraft: Boeing 787
Inaugural flight: October 27, 2017
5. Houston-IAH to Sydney — United
Distance: 8596m/13,834km
Scheduled flight time: 17h 30m
Aircraft: Boeing 787
Inaugural flight: January 18, 2018
READ MORE: INSIDE A LONG HAUL FLIGHT
6. Dallas-DFW to Sydney — Qantas
Distance: 8578m/13,805km
Scheduled flight time: 17h 15m
Aircraft: Airbus A380
Inaugural flight: September 29, 2014
7. San Francisco to Singapore — United and Singapore
Distance: 8447m/13,593km
Scheduled flight time: 17h 15m
Aircraft: United: Boeing 787 / Singapore: Airbus A350
Inaugural flights: United: June 1, 2016 / Singapore: October 23, 2016
8. Johannesburg to Atlanta — Delta
Distance: 8439m/13, 582km
Scheduled flight time: 16h 27m
Aircraft: Boeing 777-200 LR
Inaugural flight: June 1, 2009
9. Abu Dhabi to Los Angeles — Etihad
Distance: 8390m/13,503km
Scheduled flight time: 16h 30m
Aircraft: Boeing 777-300 ER
Inaugural flight: June 1, 2014
10. Dubai to Los Angeles — Emirates
Distance: 8339m/13,420km
Scheduled flight time: 16h 20m
Aircraft: Airbus A380
Inaugural flight: October 26, 2008
With the modernisation 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 faraway 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 non-stop flights between Singapore and New York City.
With a distance of 9537 miles (15,348km) between SIN-JFK, Singapore Airlines could once again claim the top spot for the world’s longest non-stop 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.
Some people love air travel, but then there are the people who love air travel.
If you’re looking to maximize your time in the sky, you might consider taking the current longest flight in the world — just board a Singapore Airlines plane in New York City and disembark in Singapore 9,537 miles later.
But the longest nonstop commercial flight ever operated happened back in March 2020. Air Tahiti Nui flew nonstop from Papeete, Tahiti to Paris, traveling 9,765 miles, bypassing its usual stopover in Los Angeles due to pandemic-related travel restrictions in place at the time.
While you won’t break any world records, you can still set your own travel benchmarks by booking a current prolonged flight. Here is the current list of the top 10 longest flights in the world that are in operation. They are ordered according to distance, since this metric remains constant, as opposed to flight timing, which can vary according to season, weather, and airport conditions at different times of the year.
1. New York City (JFK) – Singapore (SIN)
Airline: Singapore Airlines
Distance: 9,537 miles
Estimated Flight Time: 18 hours, 30 minutes
2. Singapore (SIN) – Newark (EWR)
Airline: Singapore Airlines
Distance: 9,523 miles
Estimated Flight Time: 18 hours, 30 minutes
3. Perth (PER) – London (LHR)
Airline: Qantas
Distance: 9,009 miles
Estimated Flight Time: 17 hours, 20 minutes
4. Melbourne (MEL) – Dallas (DFW)
Airline: Qantas
Distance: 8,992 miles
Estimated Flight Time: 17 hours 35 minutes
5. Auckland (AKL) – New York (JFK)
Airline: Air New Zealand
Distance: 8,828 miles
Estimated Flight Time: 17 hours, 50 minutes
6. Dubai (DXB) – Auckland (AKL
Airline: Emirates
Distance: 8,824 miles
Estimated Flight Time: 17 hours, 5 minutes
7. Singapore (SIN) – Los Angeles (LAX)
Airline: Singapore Airlines
Distance: 8,770 miles
Estimated Flight Time: 17 hours, 10 minutes
8. Bangalore (BLR) – San Francisco (SFO)
Airline: Air India
Distance: 8,701 miles
Estimated Flight Time: 17 hours, 40 minutes
9. Houston (IAH) – Sydney (SYD)
Airline: United Airlines
Distance: 8,596 miles
Estimated Flight Time: 17 hours, 35 minutes
10. Sydney (SYD) – Dallas (DFW)
Airline: Qantas
Distance: 8,576 miles
Estimated Flight Time: 15 hours and 20 minutes
