You used to think that the eleven-hour flight from LAX to Heathrow was long. That was nothing. Just this month, the new title holder of the longest non-stop flight in the world was announced – Singapore Airlines’ flight from Singapore to New York. The flight covers 9,521 miles and lasts nineteen hours.
The title of “longest flight” has been up for grabs the last few years, changing hands multiple times. This is because Boeing and Airbus have come out with new planes that are more efficient, lighter, and more comfortable than ever before. The Boeing 787 Dreamliner has been in use for a few years, and flights on this plane already exceed 9,000 miles. For example, Qantas’s flight from London to Perth is 9,010 miles and 17 hours long.
But Singapore Airlines is expected to be the first airline to receive the new Airbus A350-900 Ultra Long-Range jet. The Singapore-to-New York flight that they have planned will be on this new plane, which has the ability to fly up to 11,150 miles.
The benefits of these new planes are efficiency and speed. The fewer flights a person takes to get somewhere, the less carbon footprint they’re leaving, which is good. Fewer flights also means less overall travel time, which is also good.
But one, ultra-long non-stop flight also means being stuck on a plane for up to nineteen hours, and maybe more if there’s a landing delay or the need to reroute. That’s a very long time for a lot of people to be contained in a very small space.
Of course, Boeing and Airbus have thought of that, and these planes are chock-full of amenities. Way back in the economy section of the Dreamliner, seats are 17.2 inches wide, arranged in a 3-3-3 pattern, and every seat has a 12-inch entertainment screen. When you upgrade to premium economy, the seats get more than three inches wider in a 2-3-2 configuration, and the entertainment screens get bigger, too. Then up in business class, you can lie completely flat in an 80-inch long seat/bed with privacy screens and a luxurious 1-2-1 layout.
If you have cash to burn, that’s the way to do it.
If you’re not planning to fly to Perth or Singapore anytime soon, you could still end up on one of these fancy new planes with the current ten longest flights in the world. Here is a taste of some of the longest:
- Auckland to Doha on Qatar Airways – 9,032 miles
- Auckland to Dubai on Emirates – 8,824 miles
- Houston to Sydney on United – 8,569 miles
The United flight is on the Dreamliner, and they also have a flight on that plane to Singapore. So, I guess the moral of this story is that if you want to get to Singapore, you have a lot of options to do so quickly and in style.
Wherever you’re going, remember that we can help you get expedited passports and visas to make your trip less stressful. Contact the Swift team to learn more about expedited India visas, Russia visas, or China visas, or to ask any questions you may have. We’re always here to help.
