Ultra long-haul
Ultra-long-haul (also known as "ultra-long-range operations" ) refers to the duration of a flight (flight time) being "ultra long." IATA, ICAO, and IFALPA jointly define any flight scheduled to last over 16 hours as "Ultra Long".[1][2][3][4]
These flights usually follow a great circle route, often passing over a polar region. In some cases, non-stop ultra-long-haul routes could be less preferable to stopover flights as passengers on ultra-long-haul nonstop flights must sit in the aircraft for those long hours.[5] A low-oil-price environment favors the establishment and operation of ultra-long-haul flights.
Since 9 November 2020, Singapore Airlines SQ 23/24 is the world's longest active commercial flight, between Singapore and New York JFK airport, covering 15,349 km (9,537 mi; 8,288 nmi) in around 18 hours and 40 minutes, operated by an Airbus A350-900ULR.[6]
History
Ultra-long-haul flights lasting over 16 hours have been around since the 1930s. While modern jet aircraft travel at faster speeds and cover longer distances, the record for the longest scheduled commercial ultra-long-haul flight route was set in 1943.[7] Some of the historical ultra-long-haul routes include:
- October 21, 1936 the first scheduled commercial transpacific flight was operated by Pan American Airways on a Martin M-130 Flying Boat with 7 paying passengers on board. Flying from San Francisco to Pearl Harbor, Hawaii non-stop, a distance of 3,871 kilometres (2,405 mi; 2,090 nmi) in 19 hours, 36 minutes.[8]
- From 1943 to 1945, Qantas operated "The Double Sunrise", a weekly 5,650-kilometre (3,050 nmi) flight between Perth, Australia and Ceylon (now Sri Lanka), with average flight times of 28 (maximum of 33) hours using a Consolidated PBY Catalina.[9][10]
- October 1–2, 1957, a Trans World Airlines Lockheed L-1649 Starliner, the ultimate piston-engine airliner in terms of range and endurance, flew the inaugural 8,640-kilometre (4,670 nmi) London–San Francisco polar route in 23 hours, 19 minutes.[11]
- February 1963, Aeroflot started a Moscow-Havana flight via Murmansk with its Tu-114D. It was around 16 hours from Havana to Murmansk, the longest for a scheduled turboprop flight.
- 1 March 2001, following the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the airspace over Russia was opened for overflight purposes, allowing new circumpolar routes to come into use for commercial airlines.[12]Continental Airlines launched a 13,578-kilometre (7,332 nmi) nonstop service from Newark to Hong Kong with a flying duration exceeding 16 hours.[12] A few days later, United Airlines started its own JFK–Hong Kong service, adding 10 kilometers to the distance.[12]
- 3 February 2004, Singapore Airlines introduced a 14,113-kilometre (7,620 nmi) flight from Singapore to Los Angeles, scheduled for 16 hours, 30 minutes in the summer, 15 hours, 35 minutes in the winter. It took 17 hours, 20 minutes in summer and 18 hours, 5 minutes in winter on the return trip.[13]
- 28 June 2004, Singapore Airlines introduced Flight SQ 21, using the Airbus A340-500 (now an Airbus A350-900 ULR since October 2018) on a 15,344-kilometre (8,285 nmi) great circle route from Newark to Singapore, passing within 130 kilometres (70 nmi) of the North Pole, taking a little over 18 hours.[14] This was immediately surpassed by return Flight SQ 22, which flew a new record of 16,600-kilometre (9,000 nmi) back to Newark.[15] Despite the greater distance, Flight SQ 22 averaged a slightly shorter 17 hours, 45 minutes because of prevailing high-altitude winds.[16]
In the late 2000s/early 2010s, rapidly rising fuel prices, coupled with an economic crisis, resulted in cancellation of many ultra-long-haul non-stop flights.[5] This included the services provided by Singapore Airlines from Singapore to Newark and Los Angeles that were ended in late 2013[17][18] as well as similar lengthy flights from New York to both Mumbai and Bangkok.[19] As fuel prices later decreased and more fuel efficient aircraft were introduced to the market, the economics of ultra-long-haul flights improved and more distant markets became served by new and reinstated services. By 2023, 29 of the 30 longest flights in the world (by great circle distance), were now all ultra-long-haul in duration ranging from 16 hours to 18 hours and 50 minutes in duration.
- In 2016 and 2017, ultra-long-haul flights were launched from Dubai and Doha to Auckland respectively. Both routes became the longest duration active flights at the time of their launch.[20]
- October 18, 2018, Singapore Airlines relaunched Flight SQ 21/22[21] using the fuel efficient Airbus A350-900ULR with a scheduled flight duration of 18 hours 45 minutes. It remained the world's longest scheduled ultra-long-haul commercial flight until its suspension on March 24, 2020 due to the global drop in demand due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[22]
- In March 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the impossibility of transit in the US through Los Angeles International Airport, Air Tahiti Nui scheduled and operated Flight TN64 in March and April 2020 as a non-stop flight between Papeete and Paris Charles de Gaulle, using a Boeing 787-9 and covering 15,715 km (8,485 nmi; 9,765 mi) in a scheduled duration of 16 hours 20 minutes,[23] setting a new record for the world's longest scheduled commercial passenger flight.[24]
- On November 9, 2020, Singapore Airlines launched the current world's longest ultra-long-haul commercial flight of SQ 23/24 between Singapore and New York JFK airport, with a scheduled duration of 18 hours 40 minutes to cover the great circle distance of 15,349 kilometres (8,288 nmi; 9,537 mi) using an Airbus A350-900ULR.[6]
Airliners
The longest range jetliner in service is the Airbus A350 XWB Ultra Long Range, capable of flying up to 18,000 kilometres (9,700 nmi; 11,000 mi). The Airbus A380 is capable of flying 14,800 kilometres (8,000 nmi; 9,200 mi) with 544 passengers.
The longest range Boeing airliner in service is the 777-200LR, which can cover 17,395 kilometres (9,393 nmi; 10,809 mi) with 301 passengers.[25][26] The Boeing 777-8X is capable of flying 16,170 kilometres (8,730 nmi; 10,050 mi) with 350 to 375 passengers. The Boeing 787-9 is capable of flying 14,800 kilometres (8,000 nmi; 9,200 mi) with 290 passengers.[27] Longer ranges are possible when not carrying passengers.
New airliners like the Airbus A330neo, Airbus A350 and Boeing 787 enable economically sustainable nonstop ultra-long-haul operations on thinner routes with fewer demands, because all the previous planes capable of providing nonstop ultra-long-haul services are larger and thus more expensive to operate compared to these planes, which in turn require more tickets to be sold and more demands between both destinations to maintain the profitability of those services.[28]
Envisioned ultra long-haul flights
See also
References
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- ^ "Fatigue Management Guide for Airline Operators (Second Edition, 2015) (IATA ICAO IFALPA)" (PDF). ICAO (International Civil Aviation Organization). Archived (PDF) from the original on 9 March 2021. Retrieved 12 July 2021.
- ^ "EASA "COMMENT RESPONSE DOCUMENT (CRD) CRD TO NPA2010-14"" (PDF). EASA European Aviation Safety Agency. Archived (PDF) from the original on 12 July 2021. Retrieved 12 July 2021.
- ^ "Fourth Workshop Yields Insights into Early Ultra-Long-Range Flight Experience" (PDF). Flight Safety Digest. 24 No 8-9 August-September 2005: 1–15. Archived (PDF) from the original on 12 July 2021. Retrieved 12 July 2021.
- ^ a b "A new era of 'ultra-long-haul' aviation". Archived from the original on 2 February 2017. Retrieved 17 December 2016.
- ^ a b "Singapore Airlines To Begin Non-Stop Services To New York's JFK International Airport". Singapore Airlines. 20 October 2020. Archived from the original on 2 November 2021. Retrieved 6 July 2022.
- ^ Eames, Jim (14 December 2017). "Double sunrise: How Qantas preserved vital link to Britain during World War II". The Sydney Morning Herald. Archived from the original on 19 May 2021. Retrieved 12 July 2021.
- ^ "Pan Am Spans the Pacific | National Air and Space Museum". airandspace.si.edu. Archived from the original on 9 June 2021. Retrieved 12 July 2021.
- ^ Defence, Australian Government, Department of. "RAAF Museum: Royal Australian Air Force" Archived 2 March 2017 at the Wayback Machine. www.airforce.gov.au. Retrieved 2017-02-20.
- ^ Catanzaro, Joseph (28 December 2010). "Heroic squadron loses last pilot" Archived 25 September 2012 at the Wayback Machine. The West Australia. Retrieved 28 December 2010.
- ^ Peter J. Marson, The Lockheed Constellation. Tonbridge, Kent, England: Air-Britain (Historians), 2007
- ^ a b c "From Newark Over the North Pole". New York Times. 30 March 2001. Archived from the original on 14 April 2016. Retrieved 1 April 2016.
- ^ "Singapore Airlines A340-500 Flies into the Record Books". www.defense-aerospace.com. Archived from the original on 24 May 2019. Retrieved 24 May 2019.
- ^ "Singapore Airlines 21". FlightAware. 23 November 2013. Archived from the original on 3 April 2016. Retrieved 1 April 2016.
- ^ Agence France Presse (28 June 2004). "SIA sets new world record with direct flight to New York". Singapore Window. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 1 April 2016.
- ^ "Singapore Airlines 22". FlightAware. 23 November 2013. Archived from the original on 12 April 2016. Retrieved 1 April 2016.
- ^ Doyle, Andrew (24 October 2012). "SIA to drop nonstop USA flights as Airbus buys back A340s". flightglobal.com. Archived from the original on 27 April 2016. Retrieved 17 December 2016.
- ^ Mike Tierney (25 November 2013). "Last Call for the Long Haul From Singapore to Newark". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 2 February 2017. Retrieved 1 April 2016.
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- ^ "Qatar Airways' longest flight lands in Auckland". New Zealand Herald. 6 February 2017. ISSN 1170-0777. Archived from the original on 12 March 2017. Retrieved 12 March 2017.
- ^ "Singapore Airlines To Launch World's Longest Commercial Flights". Archived from the original on 16 October 2018.
- ^ "Singapore Airlines Makes Significant Capacity Cuts And Grounds Aircraft". Archived from the original on 17 November 2020.
- ^ "To All Passengers Bound For French Polynesia". Air Tahiti Nui. 11 March 2020. Archived from the original on 20 March 2020. Retrieved 5 January 2021.
- ^ "Air Tahiti Nui Will Fly Another Nonstop Papeete To Paris Flight". Simple Flying. 12 April 2020. Archived from the original on 26 December 2021. Retrieved 5 January 2021.
- ^ "777-200 Family performance summary" (PDF). Boeing.com. 7 September 2008. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 15 June 2023.
- ^ "Boeing 777 Family Backgrounder" (PDF). Boeing.com. 1 May 2014. Retrieved 15 June 2023.
- ^ "Boeing: 777X". www.boeing.com. Archived from the original on 30 December 2016. Retrieved 12 January 2021.
- ^ Max Kingsley-Jones (22 September 2014). "New widebodies are 'network-planning game changers'". FlightGlobal. Reed Business Information. Archived from the original on 10 October 2014. Retrieved 17 December 2016.