The New World’s Longest Nonstop Flight Is A 19-Hour, 20-Minute Ordeal From JFK To China

Only a few folks take pleasure in having to switch flights over the comfort of a continuous service, however how far are you prepared to go to keep away from a switch? Xiamen Air just lately staked a declare to the world’s longest continuous flight. The twice-a-week service from John F. Kennedy Worldwide Airport in New York Metropolis to Fuzhou Changle Worldwide Airport in Fuzhou, China is nineteen hours and 20 minutes lengthy. The brand new file holder is simply ten minutes longer than the earlier mark, Singapore Airways’ service from Newark to Singapore.

The Xiamen Air service is not precisely new. The JFK-to-Fuzhou flight was launched in 2017, minimize in 2020 and relaunched in 2024. Nevertheless, it’s now scheduled to final over 19 hours. In keeping with Easy Flyingthe avoidance of Russian airspace for the reason that nation’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine is partly accountable. The 8,400-mile route could be 635 miles shorter if the Chinese language service used a extra direct nice circle route. Nevertheless, you would not need to likelihood sending a airplane over the Arctic from america in direction of Russia.

Xiamen Air may solely maintain the file for a couple of years. Qantas introduced Challenge Dawn, its effort to launch continuous flights linking Australia’s East Coast with main cities in Europe and North America. The Australian flag service examined a 19-hour, 30-minute flight from JFK to Sydney with a Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner in 2019. Nevertheless, Qantas’ plan is reliant on Airbus producing the planes wanted for normal service. The identical 12 months, the airline positioned an order for 12 Airbus A350-1000ULR. Sure, ULR as in ultra-long vary. In accordance two shiftsdevelopmental delays and provide chain points have pushed again supply to late 2026. Qantas goals to launch its JFK-to-Sydney service in 2027.

Whereas Qantas is anticipated to take the file, it won’t as a consequence of how the file is usually decided. The scheduled block time is the accepted measure, not the common time of the flights flown. For instance, Xiamen Air’s flights from JFK to Fuzhou are roughly 17 hours lengthyfar shorter than the scheduled time. Block time sometimes consists of buffer time for potential delays and different unexpected circumstances. Solely time will inform if Qantas can declare this superlative in two years.