The five longest non-stop flights in the world (revised); is Mars next?
In the two years since Emirates began 17-hour-plus flights between Dubai and Auckland, the envelope has regularly been stretched. With Singapore Airlines announcing 19-hour direct flights to New York, is anywhere out of bounds?
The battle in the skies to see which airline can provide the longest non-stop flight has been taken a step further with Singapore Airlines’ announcement last week that it will launch a 19-hour flight from Singapore to New York before the end of 2018.
It’s the latest step in an ongoing contest between airlines as to who can provide the longest non-stop flight, with Qatar Airways holding the current record at 18 hours, and Qantas launching its own 17-hour direct flight in March.
The secret to sleeping on ultra-long-haul flights and how to arrive feeling refreshed
The new flights seem to be coming fast and furious, so here’s the new, updated list of the top five longest non-stop flights that are either happening now or are in the pipeline.
Singapore Airlines
Currently, the airline’s flights from Singapore to New York make a stop in Frankfurt or London, but this will change when its 19-hour non-stop flights begin later this year. The airline is buying seven new Airbus A350-900 ULR planes to serve the route (ULR stands for “ultra long-range”). Completing the 15,300km trip non-stop will burn an additional 24,000 litres of fuel. Whether passengers burn through their ultra-long boredom threshold remains to be seen. A large cushion may prove essential carry-on baggage.
