Singapore Airlines To Begin Flying World’s Longest Commercial Air Route

The planned nonstop route from Singapore to Newark will debut in October.

Singapore Airlines Airbus A350-900 climbing out of runway 27 for the long ride back to Singapore. (Photo by C. v. Grinsven/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)
Singapore Airlines Airbus A350-900 climbing out of runway 27 for the long ride back to Singapore. (Photo by C. v. Grinsven/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)
LightRocket via Getty Images

Singapore Airlines will begin flying the world’s longest nonstop commercial flight, from Singapore to Newark, in October, according to Reuters. The 19-hour flight will cover 8,277 nautical miles, surpassing by more than 400 miles the current record holder, Qatar Airways’ 7,843-nautical mile route from Doha to Auckland.

An Airbus A350-900ULR wide body jet will fly the 8,000-plus nautical mile route and will carry up to 161 commercial passengers. Singapore Airlines is the first customer of Airbus’ new jet, which Reuters calls “an ultra-long version of the fuel-efficient twin-engine A350 jet.”

The Singapore Airlines record may not stand for long, however. Qantas wants to begin flying a nonstop route from Sydney to London by 2022, which would be a near full-day, 9,200-nautical mile flight.

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