The battle in heaven over which airline provides the longest nonstop flights took a step further with Singapore Airlines’ announcement last week that it’ll launch a 19-hour flight from Singapore to New York before the tip of 2018.
It’s the most recent step in an ongoing competition amongst airlines to see who can provide the longest nonstop flight. Qatar Airways’ current record is eighteen hours, and Qantas will launch its own 17-hour nonstop service in March.
New flights appear to be coming thick and fast, so on May 1, the South China Morning Post shared an updated list of the five longest nonstop flights which might be either already in operation or within the pipeline.
SINGAPORE AIRLINES
Currently, the airline’s flights from Singapore to New York connect in either Frankfurt or London, but when this happens it will change 19-hour non-stop flightwill start later this yr. The airline is purchasing seven recent Airbus A350-900 ULR aircraft to serve this route (ULR stands for “ultra long-range”).
Driving a route of 15,300 km with out a stopover will burn an extra 24,000 liters of fuel. Time will tell whether passengers will cross the extremely long threshold of boredom. A big pillow could also be essential hand luggage.
QATAR AIRLINES
In February 2017, the airline set a record for the world’s longest nonstop flight when it launched a Boeing 777 flight from Doha to Auckland, New Zealand. The journey was 14,535 km long and lasted 18 hours. The Qatar route is the shortest possible route between the capital of Qatar and the biggest city in New Zealand.
QANTAS Airlines
New to the long-distance air travel market is Qantas, which in March launched a direct connection between Perth and London using Boeing 787-9 aircraft, which cover a distance of 14,500 km in 17 hours and 20 minutes.
UNITED ARAB EMIRATES AIRLINES
In March 2016, Emirates competed for the long-haul crown. The Airbus 380 departed Dubai and landed in Auckland on March 2, 2016, after traveling 14,200 km in 17 hours and quarter-hour.
“Emirates will operate flexible routes that can vary from day to day, taking advantage of tailwinds and avoiding headwinds to reduce time in the air,” Emirates said on the time.
SPACEX
It could seem a bit far-fetched in the mean time, but when Elon Musk is to be believed, flights to Mars will begin early next yr. In March, the Daily Telegraph he quoted a billionaire tech entrepreneur who said humanity must colonize other planets before a “third world war” breaks out.
Musk’s SpaceX company is designing a rocket for interplanetary travel and has estimated that “up and down flights” to the Red Planet should begin in early 2019. Let’s hope there shall be no stopovers.
Source :South China Morning Mail
