A new contender has emerged for the world's longest flight, but this record will be unnecessarily broken.
A new contender has emerged for the world's longest flight, but this record will be unnecessarily broken. In an attempt to evade Russian airspace, Cathay Pacific's flight from New York to Hong Kong will pass over the Atlantic Ocean, Britain, Southern Europe and Central Asia. In total, it will cover 16,618 km, making it the longest commercial flight in terms of distance.
The new flight will take about 17 hours to cover this distance and it will cover the current longest flight of Singapore Airlines from Singapore to New York Route (15,349 km) which is 1,269 km longer.
The flight, using the Airbus A350, normally flew over Arctic and Russian airspace, but, like many international airlines, is refraining from flying over Russia due to the invasion of Ukraine.
A spokesman for the airline told Bloomberg about the possible new route for the flight: "We always take emergency routes in case of unforeseen events or scenarios." According to the spokesperson: The option to cross the Atlantic Ocean depends on the powerful seasonal tail winds at this time of year so that the flight time is between 16 to 17 hours. As such, it is more favorable than the Trans-Pacific route.
The airline is currently seeking permission to use the airspace of the countries involved in the new route from New York's JF Candy Airport to Hong Kong. The old route of the flight included a stopover in Los Angeles, California. However, this will be a non-stop flight for the new route.
Prior to Kathy's claim for the longest flight, Air New Zealand announced in September 2022 that it would operate one of the longest direct flights from Auckland to New York City. The 14,200 km flight will become the fourth longest commercial flight in the world.
Australian airline Qantas had planned to operate a direct service 'Sunrise Flights' between Sydney, London and New York, which was delayed due to the Corona epidemic. The journey from Sydney Hop to Heathrow and then to Kingsford Smith will cover a distance of 16,983 kilometers, which is 1,500 kilometers more than the current longest commercial flight in the world between Singapore and New York.
Meanwhile, a direct flight from New York to Sydney will cover a distance of 16,200 km
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