Recently the Australian airline Qantas made headlines for making the longest non-stop commercial flight to date.
The Australian airline made this longer flight, as part of an investigation on how long-term flights can affect pilots, cabin crew and passengers.
The longest commercial flight
On board a Boeing 787-9, 49 people traveled for 19 hours and 16 minutes from New York to Sydney, a route of 16,200 km (10,066 nautical miles) away.
Tests performed during the journey included monitoring the pilot’s brain waves, their alertness and melatonin levels. Exercise tests were also carried out for passengers, and analysis of the impact produced by changes in the time zone on people.
Efficient aircraft generation for longer flights
These new long distance routes have been made possible recently thanks to the arrival of a new generation of more fuel efficient aircraft. Jets like the Boeing 787 Dreamliner and the Airbus A350 can not only cover longer distances than their precedents, but also show a series of innovations aimed at improving efficiency in the fight against time lag (jet lag), such as the generation of more friendly environments in the cabin and a higher ambient humidity so that both passengers and crews can face these extra-long flights with better mood and health.
Listed below are the longest commercial flights by distance, carried out during the last year.
Longest commercial flights of 2019
Singapore Airlines: Singapore – Newark
Distance: 9,534 miles
Flight time: 18 hours, 30 minutes.
Aircraft: Airbus A350-900LR
Qatar Airways: Auckland – Doha
Distance: 9,032 miles
Flight time: 17 hours, 50 minutes.
Aircraft: Boeing 777-200LR
Qantas: Perth – London
Distance: 9,009 miles
Flight time: 17 hours, 25 minutes.
Aircraft: Boeing 787-9 XR
Emirates: Dubai – Auckland
Distance: 8,824
Flight time: 17 hours, 10 minutes.
Aircraft: Airbus A380
Singapore Airlines: Singapore – Los Angeles
Distance: 8,770 miles
Flight time: 17 hours, 50 minutes.
Aircraft: Airbus A350-900 / A350-900ULR
United: Houston – Sydney
Distance: 8,596 miles
Flight time: 17 hours, 30 minutes.
Aircraft: Boeing 787-9
Qantas: Dallas Ft. Worth – Sydney
Distance: 8,578 miles
Flight time: 17 hours, 10 minutes.
Aircraft: Airbus A380
Philippine Airlines: Manila – New York JFK
Distance: 8,520 miles
Flight time: 16 hours, 35 minutes.
Aircraft: Airbus A350
United and Singapore Airlines: San Francisco – Singapore
Distance: 8,447 miles
Flight time: 17 hours, 20 minutes (United), 17 hours, 35 minutes (Singapore Airlines)
Aircraft: Boeing 787-9 (United), Airbus A350-900 / A350-900ULR (Singapore Airlines)
Delta: Johannesburg – Atlanta
Distance: 8,439 miles
Flight time: 16 hours, 50 minutes.
Aircraft: Boeing 777-200LR
As new state-of-the-art airplanes are developed and put into service, it is expected that airlines will extend the duration of air travel, and introduce more Extra Long Range flights that can reach their peak in the near future in more 10,000 miles and 20 hours long.
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