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The World’s Longest Flights in 2018

by Rohan Anand
Last updated September 23, 2018

It’s been several years since I wrote several stories featuring the world’s longest flights. There have been obviously many changes among these routes, such as the cancellation of Singapore Airlines’ nonstop, all-business class flights from Singapore to Newark and Los Angeles, both which were canceled in the fall of 2013.

The list has now changed as Qantas has launched its first nonstop flight from Australia to Europe.

Thanks to the advents of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner as well as the Airbus A350, several new ultra-long haul routes have commenced in recent years. However, there are debating views on what qualifies as, “longest-flight,” whether it be based on distance or duration. The matter becomes even more complex when debating whether or not the distance between the two flights should be based on the great-circle distance, which is the shortest distance between two points of a sphere, or actual distance, which varies day-to-day largely based on wind patterns or other factors.

For example, Air India flight 173, which operates from Delhi to San Francisco, flies over 9,000 miles on the westbound sector as it is able to take advantage of favorable wind conditions over the Pacific while still keeping average flight time under 16 hours. However, the great circle distance between DEL and SFO is only 7,707 miles, which doesn’t even place it among the top 25 world’s longest flights based solely on distance. So, though “unofficially” Air India may fly the longest flight on actual distance flown for a particular day, the official rankings adhere to great-circle distances because they are based on fixed data points.

Ranking flights based on duration is also a variable method, as block times/published flight times and actual flight times are also subject to change each day, based on unforeseen circumstances. However, since airlines are required to publish block times whenever they load schedules into the Global Distribution System (GDS), the general public can infer how long a flight is usually in the air. Though flight times are published based on aircraft movement from gate-to-gate, apps like FlightRadar24 are instrumental in providing average flight times, delays, routings, speed, and other factors.

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a map of the world with a route
Recording of Air India flight 173 on March 19, which shows the great circle distance in the red dotted line, and the actual distance in the blue/purple line.

Still, people seem to be more fascinated by the concept of duration, rather than distance, as the idea of claiming that you spent more time with your, “butt-in-seat,” on a particular flight versus, “butt carried over miles,” seems to come with greater credibility points.

With the impending launch of Qantas’ nonstop flight from Perth to London Heathrow this week, here is an updated list of the world’s top 25 longest flights, by distance and duration, as of March 24, 2018:

By Distance

Based solely on distance, Qatar Airways’ nonstop flight from Auckland to Doha is the world’s longest flight at over 9,000 nautical miles (9,011), and operates on a daily basis. The carrier utilizes a 777-200LR for this route.

RankAirlineRoutingDistance (in NM)AircraftFrequencyInaugural Flight
1Qatar AirwaysAuckland - Doha9,011Boeing 777-200LRDailyFebruary 5, 2017
2QantasPerth - London Heathrow8,988Boeing 787-9DailyMarch 24, 2018
3EmiratesAuckland - Dubai8,819Airbus A380-800DailyMarch 2, 2016
4United AirlinesLos Angeles - Singapore8,758Boeing 787-9DailyOctober 27, 2017
5United AirlinesHouston - Sydney8,587Boeing 787-9DailyJanuary 18, 2018
6QantasDallas/Ft. Worth - Sydney8,569Airbus A380-800DailySeptember 29, 2014
7 (tie)Singapore AirlinesSan Francisco - Singapore8,440Airbus A350-900DailyOctober 23, 2016
7 (tie)United AirlinesSan Francisco - Singapore8,440Boeing 787-9DailyJune 1, 2016
9Delta Air LinesJohannesburg - Atlanta8,433Boeing 777-200LRDailyJune 1, 2009
10Etihad AirwaysAbu Dhabi - Los Angeles8,385Boeing 777-300ER4x weeklyJune 1, 2014
11EmiratesDubai - Los Angeles8,334Airbus A380-800DailyOctober 26, 2008
12Saudia AirlinesJeddah - Los Angeles8,328Boeing 777-3003x weeklyMarch 31, 2014
13Qatar AirwaysDoha - Los Angeles8,301Boeing 777-200LRDailyJanuary 1, 2016
14PhilippinesManila - Toronto8,217Boeing 777-3004x weeklyDecember 16, 2017
15EmiratesDubai - Houston8,165Boeing 777-300ER (*upgauges to A380)DailyDecember 3, 2007
16American AirlinesDallas/Ft. Worth - Hong Kong8,111Boeing 777-300ERDailyJune 11, 2014
17EmiratesDubai - San Francisco7,101Airbus A380-800DailyDecember 15, 2008
18Cathay PacificHong Kong - New York JFK8,067Boeing 777-300ER20 weeklyJuly 1, 2004
19 (tie)Cathay PacificHong Kong - Newark EWR8,060Airbus A350-900DailyMarch 1, 2014
19 (tie)UnitedHong Kong - Newark EWR8,060Boeing 777-200ERDailyMarch 1, 2001
21Qatar AirwaysDoha - Houston8,046Boeing 777-200LRDailyMarch 1, 2009
22EmiratesDubai - Dallas/Ft. Worth8,038Boeing 777-300ERDailyFebruary 2, 2012
23AeroMexicoShanghai - Mexico City8,024Boeing 787-84x weeklyFebruary 22, 2016
24China SouthernGuangzhou - New York JFK8,019Boeing 777-300ER10x weeklyAugust 6, 2014
25South African AirwaysJohannesburg - New York JFK7,967Airbus A340-600DailyMay 1, 2011

Worth noting is one omission from this list, which is Air Canada’s seasonal service from Vancouver to Melbourne. However, as this route does not operate on a year-round basis, it has been excluded from this list.

a map of the world with red lines

By Duration

Based on duration, United’s nonstop service from Los Angeles to Singapore is the world’s longest, with 17 hours and 21 minutes of average duration, per Flight Radar 24.

RankAirlineRoutingAverage DurationAircraftFrequencyInaugural Flight
1United AirlinesLos Angeles - Singapore17:21Boeing 787-9DailyOctober 27, 2017
2QantasPerth - London Heathrow17:20? (TBD)Boeing 787-9DailyMarch 24, 2018
3Qatar AirwaysAuckland - Doha17:17Boeing 777-200LRDailyFebruary 5, 2017
4United AirlinesHouston - Sydney17:07Boeing 787-9DailyJanuary 18, 2018
5Singapore AirlinesSan Francisco - Singapore16:57Airbus A350-900DailyOctober 23, 2016
6QantasDallas/Ft. Worth - Sydney16:47Airbus A380-800DailySeptember 29, 2014
7United AirlinesSan Francisco - Singapore16:46Boeing 787-9DailyJune 1, 2016
8EmiratesAuckland - Dubai16:34Airbus A380-800DailyMarch 2, 2016
9PhilippinesToronto - Manila16:27
Boeing 777-3004x weeklyDecember 16, 2017
10Saudia AirlinesJeddah - Los Angeles16:11Boeing 777-3003x weeklyMarch 31, 2014
11Etihad AirwaysAbu Dhabi - Los Angeles16:08
Boeing 777-300ER4x weeklyJune 1, 2014
11American AirlinesDallas/Ft. Worth - Hong Kong16:08Boeing 777-300ERDailyJune 11, 2014
13EVA AirHouston - Taipei16:06Boeing 777-300ERDailyJune 20, 2015
14Delta Air LinesJohannesburg - Atlanta16:04Boeing 777-200LRDailyJune 1, 2009
15Qatar AirwaysDoha - Los Angeles15:55Boeing 777-200LRDailyJanuary 1, 2016
16Qatar AirwaysDoha - Houston15:54Boeing 777-200LRDailyMarch 1, 2009
17EmiratesDubai - Houston15:48Boeing 777-300ER (*upgauges to A380)DailyDecember 3, 2007
18South African AirwaysJohannesburg - New York JFK15:33Airbus A340-600DailyMay 1, 2011
19EmiratesDubai - Los Angeles15:32Airbus A380-800DailyOctober 26, 2008
20EmiratesDubai - Dallas/Ft. Worth15:29Boeing 777-300ERDailyFebruary 2, 2012
21Cathay PacificNew York JFK - Hong Kong15:26Boeing 777-300ER20 weeklyJuly 1, 2004
22Qatar AirwaysDoha - Dallas/Ft. Worth15:26Boeing 777-300ERDailyJuly 14, 2014
23China SouthernGuangzhou - New York JFK15:25Boeing 777-300ER10x weeklyAugust 6, 2014
24UnitedNewark EWR - Hong Kong15:21Boeing 777-200ERDailyMarch 1, 2001
25EmiratesDubai - San Francisco15:05Airbus A380-800DailyDecember 15, 2008

Notably, some flights that are not considered within the top-25 by distance are included in this table based on duration, such as EVA Air’s Houston to Taipei flight or Qatar Airways’ Doha to Dallas/Ft. Worth flight.

a map of the world with red lines
world’s longest flights, based on duration

Future Routes

There will be some new additions to this list, including the impending launch of Cathay Pacific to Washington Dulles, Emirates’ possible reconsideration to launch Panama City, and maybe even down the road, nonstop flights from Sydney to London Heathrow and New York JFK.

There have also been numerous ULH flights that have been discontinued, such as Air Tahiti Nui’s nonstop flight from New York JFK to Papeete, or Thai’s nonstop flight from JFK to Bangkok.

Have you flown on a recent ULH flight or plan to in the future? Tell us more about it in the comments section below! 

All maps generated by the Great Circle Mapper – copyright © Karl L. Swartz

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About Rohan Anand

Rohan has been writing about airlines and aviation since 2008. He has been writing for Travel Codex since 2013, and co-founded and launched the Airways Podcast with Vinay Bhaskara in 2016. He is a self-proclaimed #AvGeek, but is also fascinated by the evolving world of airline and aviation technology, data, tools, developments, models and disruption. Aside from his full-time day job as a Technical Project Manager, Rohan lifts weights, practices and teaches Yoga, cooks, listens to all varieties of music, is the captain of a rec volleyball team, and loves exploring the nightlife in his current home, Chicago. Rohan also likes to S.C.U.B.A. dive, ski, bike, and sing #KARAOKE. His perfect day is on a beach, with commercial wide-body planes fying overhead, and good jams with good company. Rohan's favorite airline, airport, and aircraft are KLM, Amsterdam Schiphol and the McDonnell-Douglas MD-11.

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