Non-stop flight

A non-stop flight is a flight by an aircraft with no intermediate stops.

An ultra long-haul non-stop flight is a flight by a commercially operated airliner without any scheduled intermediate stop of any kind and route length using the higher end of the airliner's range. These flights usually follow a great circle route, often passing over the northern or southern polar region. In some cases it could be less preferable to stopover flights as passengers on ultra long-haul non-stop flight must sit in the aircraft consecutively for many hours.^[1]

Ultra long-haul

History

From 1943 to 1945 Qantas operated "The Double Sunrise", a weekly 5,650-kilometre (3,050 nmi) flight between Western Australia and Ceylon (now Sri Lanka), with average flight times of 27 hours using a Consolidated PBY Catalina. On 1–2 October 1957 a Trans World Airlines Lockheed L-1649 Starliner, the ultimate piston-engine airliner in terms of range and endurance, flew the inaugural 8,640-kilometre (4,670 nmi) London–San Francisco polar route in 23 h 19 min.^[2]

In June 1961, El Al extended the record for the world's longest scheduled non-stop commercial flight with a 9,270 kilometres (5,010 nmi) route from New York to Tel Aviv. Previously tested on trial runs with a Bristol Britannia in December 1957, the scheduled flight used a Boeing 707 averaged 9 hours and 33 minutes.^[3]

In August 1967, Aerolineas Argentinas established their non-stop Boeing 707 service on a 10,062-kilometre (5,433 nmi) route between Madrid and Buenos Aires with a flight time of 12 hours.^[4]

The Aerolineas Argentinas route was the longest scheduled flight by distance until 1976, when the Boeing 747SP entered service. In April 1976, Pan Am set the new record for the longest non-stop scheduled flight with its 10,854-kilometre (5,861 nmi) New York–Tokyo route and in December the airline set another record with Sydney–San Francisco, covering 11,937 kilometres (6,445 nmi).

In May 1988, El Al introduced its long-haul passenger flight from Tel Aviv to Los Angeles, completing its 12,189-kilometre (6,582 nmi) journey in 13 hours and 41 minutes.

The fall of the Soviet Union eventually opened the airspace over Russia, allowing new circumpolar routes to come into use for commercial airlines.^[5] On March 1, 2001, Continental Airlines launched a 13,578-kilometre (7,332 nmi) non-stop service from Newark to Hong Kong—the first non-stop long-haul route for any airline with the flying duration exceeding 16 hours.^[5] A few days later, United Airlines started their own New York to Hong Kong service, adding 3 kilometers to the distance.^[5]

On 3 February 2004, Singapore Airlines introduced a 14,113-kilometre (7,620 nmi) flight from Singapore to Los Angeles, scheduled for 16 hours and 30 minutes in the Summer, 15 hours and 35 minutes in the winter. It took 17 hours and 20 minutes in Summer, 18 hours and 5 minutes in Winter on the return trip.

In June 2004, Singapore Airlines introduced Flight SQ21, using the Airbus A340-500 on a 15,344-kilometre (8,285 nmi) great circle route from Newark to Singapore, passing within 130 kilometres (70 nmi) of the North Pole, taking a little over 18 hours.^[6] This non-stop scheduled-commercial distance was immediately surpassed by return Flight SQ22, which flew the current record of 16,600-kilometre (9,000 nmi) back to Newark, on a route over Asia and Alaska.^[7] Despite the greater distance, Flight SQ22 averaged a slightly shorter 17 h 45 min due to assistance from prevailing high-altitude winds.^[8]

In late 2000s/early 2010s, skyrocketing fuel price coupled with economic crisis resulted in drop of many ultra-long haul non-stop flights as planes have to take off with lots of fuels to be used later in the journey which increased the fuel consumption, and those aircraft being used to fly these ultra-long haul flight is not very fuel efficient, also the economic crisis make people less willing to pay for a premium in these flights.^[9] That include the aforementioned services provided by Singapore Airlines from Singapore non-stop to Newark/Los Angeles, which were dropped in November 2013 after nine years of service.^[10][11]

In late 2010s, with the introduction of new, more fuel-efficient planes, more and more new ultra-long haul routes have been opened.^[9]

Current

Since 1 March 2016, the longest non-stop scheduled airline flight (by great circle distance) is Emirates flight EK448 from Dubai, United Arab Emirates to Auckland, New Zealand, and its return flight EK449, at 14,200 kilometres (7,700 nmi). The inaugural flight was flown using an Airbus A380-800,^[12][13] but subsequent regular service flights will be flown using a Boeing 777-200LR.^[14] Emirates have subsequently announced that the Dubai - Auckland return flight will switch to an A380 permanently as of October 2016.^[15][16]

On 1 June 2016, United Airlines began nonstop operations between San Francisco and Singapore using a Boeing 787-9. Singapore Airlines joined United Airlines on 23 October 2016, using a Airbus A350-900 aircraft on the same route with payload restrictions.^[17]

When Air India Flight 173 from New Delhi to San Francisco is routed over the Pacific Ocean due to strong jet stream tailwinds the flight can travel longer distances than the longest great circle flights, Such flights reduce travel time by almost 2 hours, despite increasing the total distance travelled by over 1,100 km.^[18] A typical Pacific routing flies over 15,100 km (9,300 miles) en route from Delhi to San Francisco and covers the distance in almost 15 hours.^[19] The longest distance travelled by AI 173 was on 21 October 2016. It flew 10,204 miles (16,421 km) in 15 h 8 m that day.^[20] The flight is expected to fly over the Pacific for 6 months, until March 2017. The return flight, AI 174 still flies a polar route to take advantage of winds in that direction.^[21] Air India thus advertised it as a round the world flight, departing over Pacific and returning over Atlantic.^[22] A Boeing 777-200LR is used on the route.^[23]

Future

Announced

On 5 February 2017, Qatar Airways will begin nonstop flights between Doha and Auckland. The flight covers 14,536 kilometres (7,849 nmi) and will be operated by Boeing 777-200LR aircraft.^[24][25]

Envisioned

Miami International Airport (Florida) is in talks with EVA Air and China Airlines of Taiwan to launch before 2018 a nonstop 13,922 km (7,517 nmi) flight to Taipei,^[26] and Qantas is drawing to a close in negotiating a nonstop 14,499 km (7,829 nmi) Perth-London service on Boeing 787-9s, to be delivered from 2017.^[27][28]

Singapore Airlines will be the launch customer of the Airbus A350-900 ULR, the A350 ultra-long-range variant, to be delivered in 2018 and enabling the re-launch of the world's longest non-stop flights from Singapore to Los Angeles (14,113 km or 7,620 nmi) and New York (16,600 km or 9,000 nmi), among other options.^[29] Seating is reduced from 300 seats in Singapore Airlines standard A350 configuration to 170 to allow for more fuel.^[30]

At the January 2016 Bahrain International Airshow, Qatar Airways announced it will add an ultra-long haul route between Doha and Santiago de Chile using a Boeing 777-200LR.^[31] The distance between Doha and Santiago is 14,430 km (7,790 nmi), and the flight would take around 18½ hours.^[32]

In August 2015, Emirates announced a nonstop Dubai-Panama City service due to start from 1 February 2016, covering 13,821 kilometres (7,463 nmi) in 17 hours 35 minutes westbound. However, in January 2016, the flight was postponed to 31 March 2016. In early-March, less than a month before commencing services, Emirates cancelled the flight. It is now due to start in late 2016 or early 2017, when conditions improve.^[33][34]

Airliners

The longest range Airbus jetliner is the A340-500, capable of flying for up to 16,670 kilometres (9,000 nmi) with 293 passengers. Currently, the A380 is capable of flying for 15,200 kilometres (8,200 nmi) with 544 passengers, the A350-900 for 8,100 nautical miles (15,000 km) with 325 passengers and the -900ULR can cover 8,700 nautical miles (16,100 km).^[35]

New airliners like the A350 and B787 enable new long range, smaller city pairs and open new network possibilities like the 1980s twinjets (Airbus A300, Airbus A310 and Boeing 767), on transatlantic and some transpacific routes.^[36]

The longest range Boeing airliner is the B777-200LR which can cover 15,840 kilometres (8,550 nmi) with 317 passengers, to be replaced by the B777-8X capable of traveling 16,110 kilometres (8,700 nmi) with 350 to 375 passengers, announced on November 2013 and scheduled to enter service in 2020.^[37] It could enable economical non-stop flights on the 17,016-kilometre (9,188 nmi) Kangaroo route in 19 hours,^[38] or the 16,683 kilometres (9,008 nmi) Nouméa, New Caledonia to Paris CDG,^[39] like the Southern Cross Route.

Boeing is currently the dominant manufacturer in the ultra long-haul aircraft segment, with 25 of the 30 longest nonstop flights being operated by Boeing airliners such as the 777-300ER (13), 777-200LR (8), 777-200ER (2), 787-9 (1) and the 747-400ER (1). The Airbus A380-800 is used on the second longest flight and four other routes, and the A340-600 on one (totals 31 as two different aircraft are used on one of the flights).^[40]

Planned long flights

Iran Air had planned a non-stop 12,222-kilometre (6,599 nmi) Tehran–Los Angeles flight, which never materialized due to the 1979 Iranian Revolution. It suspended in November 1979 its 9,850-kilometre (5,320 nmi) scheduled non-stop service between New York and Tehran, flown eastward in 11h 15min, begun after its 747SP delivery on 12 March 1976.

Qatar Airways commenced nonstop flights to Los Angeles on 1 January 2016, covering a Great-Circle distance of 13,367 kilometres (7,218 nmi) and taking 16 hours 25 minutes. This service became Qatar Airways longest flight, overtaking the 12,952-kilometre (6,994 nmi) QR713 Doha-Houston Route. The new flight is the sixth longest route in the Top 30 longest nonstop flights. ^[41]

Air Canada is launching tri-weekly service from Toronto to Mumbai, which would become their longest flight at 12,577 km (6,791 nmi). The route will start service on 1 July 2017 with a Boeing 787-9 aircraft.^[42]

Philippine Airlines is replacing its A340-300 with an A350-900HGW high gross weight version available from 2017 enabling non-stop Manila-New York without payload limitations in both directions,^[43] a 13,700 km (7,400 nmi) flight.^[44]

Singapore Airlines, which resumed its non-stop service to the United States on 23 October 2016 with the aforementioned non stop flight to San Francisco while using the airline's brand new Airbus A350-900ULR aircraft, is planning to surpass its longest route in its network (Singapore to San Francisco) with another non-stop service from Singapore to New York, which will be restarted by 2018.

Exploitation

The length of flights using current operational procedures would still be limited by flight planning considerations including having sufficient fuel to fly against the wind, to avoid adverse weather, and holding. Restrictions like ETOPS are no longer a limitation with the A350 having a 370-minute clearance by European authorities and Boeing's 777 and 787 having a 330-minute clearance by FAA.

Along with the chosen cruising air speed, the time taken by a flight depends mainly on the ATC route, and the speed and direction of the winds at flight level, which can result in a tailwind, headwind, or crosswind at various points of the flight. Flights crossing the middle latitudes often encounter the jet stream, which typically flows in a general eastward direction. As a result, flights traveling from west to east often experience a tailwind and have shorter flight times than flights traveling from east to west, which experience a headwind. Flight schedules account for this effect in an average sense, but when the jet stream is stronger or weaker than normal, or takes an unusual direction, large differences can occur from scheduled flight times.

Record flights

Focke-Wulf FW 200 B Condor of Deutsche Luft Hansa (model).

A Qantas B747-400 known as the City of Canberra (VH-OJA). This particular 747 once flew from London to Sydney non-stop during its delivery flight, flying 18,000 kilometers in about 20 hours. This distance remains the longest flight ever flown by a commercial jetliner

On 10–11 August 1938 a Deutsche Luft Hansa Focke-Wulf Fw 200 flew 6,400 kilometres (3,500 nmi) from Berlin to New York in 24 h 56 min.

In August 1989 the first Qantas 747-438 being delivered by Boeing, the City of Canberra, set a distance record for a commercial aircraft by flying 18,001 kilometres (9,720 nmi) non-stop between London and Sydney in 20 h 9 min 5 seconds, creating publicity for the airline's "Longreach" services with the 747-400. The flight departed London/Heathrow under command of Captain David Massey-Greene, Qantas Boeing 747-400 Project Pilot, with a flight crew comprising Qantas Captains Ray Heiniger, Rob Greenop and George Lindeman, with Captain Chet Chester from Boeing. In addition to the five pilots, there were two cabin crew and sixteen passengers aboard.^[45]

On 9 November 2005 a Pakistan International Airlines Boeing 777-200LR, dubbed the Worldliner, completed the world's longest non-stop passenger flight. It traveled 21,602 kilometres (11,664 nmi) eastward, from Hong Kong to London, in roughly 22 h 22 min, as opposed to a normal westward routing for that sector, which is much shorter at 9,647 kilometres (5,209 nmi).^[46] Aboard the 777-200LR were eight pilots including Suzanna Darcy-Henneman, Boeing's first female test pilot. Although the airplane seats 301, there were only 27 passengers aboard this flight. There were two Boeing executives; several Boeing 777 engineers; representatives from General Electric; and a dozen journalists from around the world. Commander Asif Reza, senior vice president flight operations PIA, was in command and assisted by Captain Mohammed Ilyas Malik, designated PIA check pilot for the Boeing 777, to fly the aircraft as Boeing's "launch customer", pending delivery of this very first plane to PIA, registered in Pakistan AP-BGZ.^[47] PIA now uses the Boeing 777-200LR on their nonstop flights from Toronto, Canada to Pakistan.

In March 2006 a British Airways Boeing 777-200ER flew non stop from Brussels Airport to Melbourne Airport carrying the then UK Prime Minister Tony Blair with a flight time of 18 Hours & 45 Minutes ^[48]

On 6 March 2016, two days before International Women's Day, Air India operated the world's longest all women crew flight. The 17-hour, 12,402 km (7,706 mi) long flight, AI 173 from Delhi to San Francisco, had an all women staff, including cabin crew, cockpit crew, doctor, customer care staff and the ground staff including the operator, technician, engineer, flight dispatcher and trimmer. A Boeing 777-200LR was used on the flight. The historic flight was under the command of Captain Kshamta Bajpayee and Captain Shubhangi Singh along with First Officers Captain Ramya Kirti Gupta and Captain Amrit Namdhari.^[49]

Competition

The route from San Francisco to Singapore is the longest non-stop route in the world to be served by more than one airline: one daily each by United Airlines and by Singapore Airlines.

The routes served between Los Angeles and Sydney have five airlines operating non-stop flights: Delta Air Lines, Qantas, Virgin Australia, United Airlines and American Airlines. In terms of flight frequency, Emirates has nine ultra-long-haul non-stop destinations from its Dubai base: Auckland, Dallas/Fort Worth, Houston, Los Angeles, Rio de Janeiro, San Francisco, São Paulo, Seattle, Orlando.

Geography

Because Europe is at the centre of the land hemisphere, the distances from Europe to the largest cities in North/South America, Africa and Asia are not among the longest. The longest flights from Europe are to Buenos Aires (e.g. Lufthansa: FRA-EZE, 11,455 km (6,185 nmi)) and Santiago (e.g. Alitalia: FCO-SCL, 11,875 km (6,412 nmi)) in Southern South America and from South-East Asia (e.g. Garuda Indonesia: LHR-CGK, 11,714 km (6,325 nmi)).

The distance from Europe to Australia and New Zealand is longer than these flights but there are no non-stop flights between these continents. The world's longest direct flight is Air New Zealand flight 1, which operates between London Heathrow and Auckland International Airport. However, this flight makes a stop at LAX.

The longest non-stop flights currently running are not the longest city pairs theoretically possible. The longest routes possible are between antipodes, or points on the Earth's surface opposite each other with the Earth's center directly between, a distance of 20,000 kilometres (10,800 nmi) at the meridian. Other proposals include utilization of point-to-point sub-orbital spaceflight for the ultra long-haul distances.

Longest flights

A Qatar Airways Boeing 777-200LR, the aircraft that operates most of the airline's longest routes.

The following table lists the world's longest non-stop scheduled passenger routes by great circle distance. While the actual route may be significantly longer than the direct distance, actual distances are variable based on the conditions. In principle, the average of the flight times to and from a destination is much more closely correlated to the great circle distance. The city pair routes: AKL-DXB, DFW-SYD, ATL-JNB, JFK-JNB, and LAX-MEL all cross the equator.

Currently scheduled (top 30, by distance)

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. New York-JFK and Newark-Liberty airports).

^† Summer schedule (northern hemisphere; austral winter)
^‡ Winter schedule (northern hemisphere; austral summer)

Notes:

1. The date given for the start of Qantas Flight 8 is when it began flying non-stop after switching to the A380-800 from the Boeing 747-400ER. Previously, QF 8 required a stop in Brisbane, though the eastbound QF 7 from Sydney was always non-stop. The first flight of QF 7 was 16 May 2011.^[92]

2. South African Airways operates the New York to Johannesburg flight non-stop throughout the year. However, from October to March, the return Johannesburg to New York flight operates with a stop in Dakar, Senegal, with an Airbus A340-300. In the summer months, both directions are non-stop with the Airbus A340-600.^[93]

3. Even though Air India flight 173 typically flies over 9,000 miles (15,000 km) in the eastbound Delhi to San Francisco flight, the list above only ranks based on great circle distance, not actual distance travelled. The great circle distance between Delhi and San Francisco is 7,706 miles (12,402 km).^[94]

Discontinued

Airlines and aircraft types for non-stop flights

The sections below gives two separate views. The first one lists all the commercial aircraft types used for serving non-stop flights and their currently scheduled and operating longest flight. The second section attempts to list all the passenger airline companies in the world and their longest scheduled non-stop flight currently in operation.

By aircraft type

Current

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

Record

The table below lists the longest (by great circle distance) ever (Current and Historical) regularly scheduled non-stop revenue flights operated by different types of aircraft.

Notes:

• One-off flights does not count

By airline companies (currently scheduled)

The table below lists international airline companies with their longest (in mileage not time) non-stop flight currently in operation.

Compare

• Direct flight

See also

• Domestic flight
• Flight length
• ETOPS/LROPS
• International flight
• Longest train services
• Flight distance record
• Mainline
• World's busiest passenger air routes

Notes

References

External links

• Understanding Travelspeak