For the flight crew – which also includes two first officers and a 13-person cabin contingent – the workload can be divided, the airline said, with all and sundry receiving a compulsory minimum of 4 hours of rest. However, the challenge for passengers can be what to do with all this downtime within the air.
For those that do not have a heavy novel (or two) of their package, there can be 1,200 hours of audiovisual entertainment to pick from.
Dining options will include dishes that the airline says have been chosen to advertise well-being within the air, and the menu will include organic dishes.
The cabin has higher-than-usual ceilings, larger windows and lighting designed to cut back jetlag – all a part of an effort to cut back the stress that may accompany almost a whole day on a plane.
“Research has shown that hydration and food intake are important factors [to consider]such as avoiding foods that cause gas or bloating, as well as excessive alcohol consumption,” said Rhenu Bhuller, a health care expert at consulting firm Frost & Sullivan.
“The biggest problem is deep vein thrombosis, which is a result of too much sitting and dehydration,” said Gail Cross, a consultant at the National University Hospital of Singapore.
We expect Singapore Airlines to regain market share, especially in the premium travel segment
Airbus said the twin-engine plane that will make the journey uses a modified system that burns 25 percent less fuel than other similarly sized planes.
A flight from the state to Newark Airport can take up to 18 hours and 45 minutes in normal weather, but pilots will have something in reserve in a plane capable of flying more than 20 hours non-stop.
Singapore Airlines originally flew the route for nine years, using the fuel-guzzling, four-engine A340-500, before abandoning the route in 2013 as high oil prices made the service unprofitable. But the carrier hopes the introduction of more fuel-efficient planes will keep the tills ringing even if oil prices rise above $80.
Thursday’s flight will end the current longest direct connection between cities – Qatar Airways flight 921 from Auckland to Doha, which takes 17 hours and 40 minutes, but Australian Qantas Airways is considering introducing an even longer, 20-hour flight from Sydney to London from 2022.
Hong Kong’s Cathay Pacific Airways and Taiwan’s EVA Airways compete on single-stop services from Singapore to the US.
“It turns out to be a race between several airlines interested in the longest intercontinental routes,” said Shukor Yusof of aviation consultancy Endau Analytics. “They hope to tap into and capitalize on a very niche market.”
In recent years, within the face of accelerating competition, Singapore Airlines has consolidated its low-cost subsidiaries and strengthened its premium segment.
“Ultra-long-haul services are an important element of this strategy,” an airline spokesman said.
The company is the primary airline on the planet to operate the A350-900ULR aircraft. In September he received his first plane. Six more are scheduled to be delivered by the top of the 12 months.
Why Cathay Pacific won’t challenge Singapore Airlines’ long-haul flights
“We are optimistic about demand for non-stop service to the United States,” the spokesman said.
Singapore Airlines canceled its marathon routes to Newark and Los Angeles in 2013 when high fuel prices made it unprofitable to make use of its four-engine Airbus A340-500 jets. It has since flown to New York’s JFK airport via Frankfurt and to Los Angeles via Tokyo and Seoul.
The airline’s share of revenue within the Americas region is now 14 percent, up from 20 percent in 2013 on account of the lack of nonstop flights, said Corrine Png, chief executive of transportation research firm Crucial Perspective.
“Operating connecting flights across the Pacific has opened Singapore Airlines to significantly greater competition from other carriers and resulted in the loss of high-profit business traffic,” she said. “We expect Singapore Airlines to regain market share, especially in the premium travel market.”
Additional reporting by Reuters
