As the aviation industry evolves out of the pandemic, airlines are once again focusing on long-haul flights. In this post, we share the top 10 longest flights in the world in 2022.
Singapore Airlines flight between New York JFK and Singapore is currently the World’s longest non-stop flight. The flight slightly edges out another Singapore Airlines flight between Newark and Singapore by a mere five kilometers. Both of these flights are operated by an Airbus A350-900ULR aircraft.
*Note that all routes are ranked by “great circle” distance and the flight times fluctuate throughout the year.
First flight: November 9, 2020
Flight distance: 15,349 km (8,288 NMI)
Average Flight time: 18 Hours, 15 Minutes
Aircraft: Airbus A350-900ULR
First flight: March 27, 2022
Flight distance: 15,344 km (8,285 NMI)
Average Flight time: 18 Hours, 10 Minutes
Aircraft: Airbus A350-900ULR
First flight: February 5, 2017
Flight distance: 14,535 km (7,848 NMI)
Average Flight time: 17 Hours, 25 Minutes
Aircraft: Boeing 777-200LR
First flight: March 24, 2018
Flight distance: 14,500 km (7,829 NMI)
Average Flight time: 17 Hours, 20 Minutes
Aircraft: Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner
First flight: December 2, 2022
Flight distance: 14,471 km (7,814 NMI)
Aircraft: Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner
Once operated, this flight between Melbourne and Dallas would be the World’s fifth-longest flight, by great circle distance.
First flight: September 17, 2022
Flight distance: 14,207km (7,671 NMI)
Aircraft: Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner
First flight: March 2, 2016
Flight distance: 14,200 km (7,667 NMI)
Average Flight time: 16 Hours, 39 Minutes
Aircraft: Boeing 777-200LR
First flight: November 02, 2018
Flight distance: 14,114 km (7,621 NMI)
Average Flight time: 17 Hours, 9 Minutes
Aircraft: Airbus A350-900ULR/ A350-900
First flight: January 9, 2021
October 28, 2022 (United Airlines)
Flight distance: 14,004 km (7,562 NMI)
Average Flight time: 15 Hours, 33 Minutes
Aircraft: Boeing 777-200LR/ Boeing 787-9
First flight: November 1, 2021
Flight distance: 13,872 km (7,490 NMI)
Average Flight time: 17 Hours, 12 Minutes
Aircraft: Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner
The flights between Darwin and London Heathrow are temporary. Once the Qantas’ Perth to London Heathrow service is reinstated in June later this year, it will be replaced.
Cathay Pacific had planned to operate the World’s longest flight between Hong Kong and New York JFK. The re-routed 10,000+ miles non-stop flight, avoiding the Russian airspace completely would become the world’s longest flight by distance once operated as planned.
Cathay is deploying its Airbus A350-1000 aircraft on this route. However, the current flight didn’t cover the 10,000+ miles as estimated, rather it completed the flight in 8,071 miles, with a flight time of 17 hours and 30 minutes over the Pacific.
Several airlines have opted for long-haul routes to avoid the Russian airspace amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Although these flights are temporary, the flight time has been prolonged by multiple hours, with some of the flights making a fuel stop before reaching their destination.
Multiple long-haul flights have been announced, some of them are to avoid the Russian airspace whereas some of them are scheduled flights. Some of these flights are as follows:
Flight distance: 12,025 km
Average Flight Time: 16 Hours, 37 Minutes
Aircraft: Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner
Flight distance: 11,758 km (Direct), 12,392 km (via Bangor)
Average Flight Time: 15 Hours, 42 Minutes
Aircraft: Boeing 777-300ER
American Airlines initially operated its flight between Delhi and New York-JFK via Bangor to avoid the Russian airspace. However, the flight is now operated without a technical stop, although the flight time has been prolonged by around two hours, with Air India operating the same route for around 14 hours.
Which of these ultra-long-haul flights have you flown and found interesting? Let us know in the comments below:
Source: Bloomberg, Flightradar24, GC Map
Based in Nepal, Sharad has a passion for data-driven analysis with a strong focus on aviation and travel. Having written for Airlive, Travel Radar, Aviation Nepal and others, he aims to improve his content and knowledge on Sam Chui Aviation and Travel.
looking to going on the longest flight soon
I used to fly CX transpolar JFK-HKG twice a year in the past. CX is most convenient with plenty of flights to New York from Hong Kong daily , pre-pandemic.
Hi Sam.
On 27 March, Biman Bangladesh Airlines BG305 flew to Toronto which took 18 hr 35 mins as trial basis. If they start regular flight to Toronto, then I think it will be the longest flight.
I reported this event, however, this is a one-off flight. I will monitor once they start and update the list.
Interesting !! Thanks for sharing.
Keep up the good work Sam. I read your articles from front to back each time, very interesting and informative.
SQ21/22 launched in June 2004… sure it was cancelled and relaunched, but I think the fact that it existed way before any other routes on the list is pretty significant ?
It was originally flown with specialized A340-500s between 2004 and 2013. The flights were cancelled with the retiring of the A340-500s in 2013, and were reinstated once Singapore Airlines took delivery of its A350-900ULRs.
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