If there’s one thing that can excite jaded travelers, it’s a new plane—or route—that smashes previous records. That fact hasn’t escaped airline executives, either: Qatar Airways’ outspoken chief Akbar Al Baker is dropping broad hints that he’ll soon launch new ultra-long distance flights, including a Doha-Auckland run that, at around 9,000 miles and 18.5 hours duration, would top the current holder of the world’s longest title—Qantas’s Dallas-Sydney flight (8,578 miles, 16 hours 55 minutes). Qatar has not, however, said when it would begin service to New Zealand, and is also considering service to Santiago, Chile; another endurance run with about the same flying time.
Despite the proposed distance, the potential flights wouldn’t set the all-time record for longest scheduled passenger flight. That distinction belongs to Singapore Air, which discontinued its non-stop service between New York and Singapore several years ago (but has recently announced plans to bring it back). Service on that marathon run—9,500 miles and about 19 hours—will resume in 2018. Thanks in part to the expansion plans of the Middle East power trio—Emirates, Etihad, and Qatar—the roster of flights exceeding 16 hours is growing quickly.
All of these come down to the choice of aircraft, of course. Qatar said it will use the 777-200LR (long-range) for the new ultra-longs, and Singapore will deploy Airbus’s A350-900 ULR, or ultra-long range, when it revives non-stop flights to New York. The Holy Grail, though, would be nonstop service from Australia to either New York or London, just under and over 10,000 miles, respectively, a range that’s currently beyond the capability of today’s aircraft if carrying a full payload. That will soon be within striking reach, however, when Airbus’s new A350 and Boeing’s new 777-8 start rolling off assembly lines in a few years.
*Find a full list of the longest flights in the world here. *