Ultra long-haul

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
See also: Longest flights and Flight duration

Ultra-long-haul (also known as "ultra-long-range operations" ) refers to the duration of a flight (flight duration) 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.

The longest ultra-long-haul commercial flight in the world currently is Singapore Airlines Flight SQ 23/24, which flies from Singapore Changi Airport to New York JFK Airport.[6]

History[]

See also: Longest flights § History

Ultra-long-haul flights lasting over 16 hours in duration 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 remains 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.

  • On 2 December 2015, Air India launched a nonstop flight from Delhi to San Francisco.[20]
  • In 2016 and 2017, similar lengthy flights were launched from Dubai and Doha to Auckland respectively.[21]
  • October 18, 2018, Singapore Airlines relaunched Flight SQ 21/22[22] using the fuel efficient Airbus A350-900ULR. It remained the world's longest scheduled ultra-long-haul commercial flight until its indefinite suspension due to the global drop in demand due to the COVID-19 pandemic on March 24, 2020.[23]
  • In March 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the impossibility of transit in the USA 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)[24]., setting a new record for the world's longest scheduled commercial passenger flight.[25]
  • On November 9, 2020, Singapore Airlines launched the current world's longest ultra-long-haul commercial flight of SQ 23/24 between Singapore and JFK Airport New York City, USA. at 15,349 kilometres (8,288 nmi; 9,537 mi) operated by an Airbus A350-900ULR.[26]

Airliners[]

See also: Longest flights § Airliners

The longest range jetliner in service is the Airbus A350 XWB Ultra Long Range, capable of flying up to 18,000 km (9,700 nmi). The A380 is capable of flying 14,800 km (8,000 nmi) with 544 passengers. The A350-900 can fly 15,000 km (8,100 nmi) with 325 passengers.[27]

The longest range Boeing airliner in service is the 777-200LR, which can cover 17,446 kilometres (9,420 nmi; 10,840 mi) with 317 passengers.[28] The Boeing 777-8X will be capable of flying 16,170 kilometres (8,730 nmi; 10,050 mi) with 350 to 375 passengers. The Boeing 787-9 can fly 14,800 km (7,991 nmi) with 290 passengers.[29]

New airliners like the A330neo, A350 and B787 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.[30]

On 25 August 2018, Air India challenged Airbus and Boeing to extend the range of their long haul aircraft to enable flights from India to Santiago or Lima by 2022.[31] The Maharaja Route between New Delhi and Santiago Airport is 17,016 km (9,188 nmi) long, a 20 hour flight at Mach 0.8.[32] Both airframers want to avoid a specific design and Airbus sees a market for 50-100 airliners as other operators could join Air India, for which those could reach the whole world nonstop instead of 70% of its population. Aimed at business travelers, such ultra-long-haul flights can charge a 20% premium over one-stop direct flights.[33]

Planned long flights[]

See also: Longest flights § Envisioned_services

In 2016, Emirates was contemplating a direct Dubai-San Juan flight.[34] It would have been the longest nonstop flight to and from the Caribbean with 12,044 km (6,503 nmi) and taking just over 16 hours.[35]

Qantas introduced a nonstop flight from Perth, Australia to London Heathrow, England with a flight time of 17 hours to travel 14,492 kilometres with Boeing 787-9 Dreamliners in 2018. This was the first regular nonstop flight connection between the continents of Europe and Oceania.[36] In 2019, Qantas also used the same aircraft fleet to debut its first experimental nonstop flights between New York and Sydney (with a distance of more than 16,000 km), and London and Sydney (with a distance of more than 17,000 km), making both routes the two longest flights ever attempted by any modern aircraft in history.[37]

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ "Fatigue Risk Management System (FRMS) Implementation Guide for Operators (IATA ICAO AFALPA)" (PDF). ICAO (International Civil Aviation Organization).{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  2. ^ "Fatigue Management Guide for Airline Operators (Second Edition, 2015) (IATA ICAO IFALPA)" (PDF). ICAO (International Civil Aviation Organization).{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  3. ^ "EASA "COMMENT RESPONSE DOCUMENT (CRD) CRD TO NPA2010-14"" (PDF). EASA European Aviation Safety Agency.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  4. ^ "Fourth Workshop Yields Insights into Early Ultra-Long-Range Flight Experience" (PDF). Flight Safety Digest. 24 No 8-9 August-September 2005: 1–15.
  5. ^ a b "A new era of 'ultra-long-haul' aviation".
  6. ^ "Singapore Airlines To Begin Non-Stop Services To New York's JFK International Airport". Singapore Airlines. 20 October 2020.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  7. ^ Eames, Jim (14 December 2017). "Double sunrise: How Qantas preserved vital link to Britain during World War II". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 12 July 2021.
  8. ^ "Pan Am Spans the Pacific | National Air and Space Museum". airandspace.si.edu. Retrieved 12 July 2021.
  9. ^ Defence, Australian Government, Department of. "RAAF Museum: Royal Australian Air Force". www.airforce.gov.au. Retrieved 2017-02-20.
  10. ^ Catanzaro, Joseph (28 December 2010). "Heroic squadron loses last pilot". The West Australia. Retrieved 28 December 2010.
  11. ^ Peter J. Marson, The Lockheed Constellation. Tonbridge, Kent, England: Air-Britain (Historians), 2007
  12. ^ a b c "From Newark Over the North Pole". New York Times. 30 March 2001. Retrieved 1 April 2016.
  13. ^ "Singapore Airlines A340-500 Flies into the Record Books". www.defense-aerospace.com. Retrieved 24 May 2019.
  14. ^ "Singapore Airlines 21". FlightAware. 23 November 2013. Retrieved 1 April 2016.
  15. ^ Agence France Presse (28 June 2004). "SIA sets new world record with direct flight to New York". Singapore Window. Retrieved 1 April 2016.
  16. ^ "Singapore Airlines 22". FlightAware. 23 November 2013. Retrieved 1 April 2016.
  17. ^ Doyle, Andrew (24 October 2012). "SIA to drop nonstop USA flights as Airbus buys back A340s". flightglobal.com.
  18. ^ Mike Tierney (25 November 2013). "Last Call for the Long Haul From Singapore to Newark". The New York Times. Retrieved 1 April 2016.
  19. ^ "Air India W10 Long-Haul Operation Changes: Update 1". Airline Route. 24 July 2010. Retrieved 12 March 2017.
  20. ^ Morris, Hugh (26 October 2016). "Air India breaks Emirates' record for world's longest flight". Traveller. Retrieved 12 March 2017.
  21. ^ "Qatar Airways' longest flight lands in Auckland". New Zealand Herald. 6 February 2017. ISSN 1170-0777. Retrieved 12 March 2017.
  22. ^ "Singapore Airlines To Launch World's Longest Commercial Flights".
  23. ^ "Singapore Airlines Makes Significant Capacity Cuts And Grounds Aircraft".
  24. ^ "To All Passengers Bound For French Polynesia". Air Tahiti Nui. 11 March 2020. Retrieved 5 January 2021.
  25. ^ "Air Tahiti Nui Will Fly Another Nonstop Papeete To Paris Flight". Simple Flying. 12 April 2020. Retrieved 5 January 2021.
  26. ^ "Singapore Airlines To Begin Non-Stop Services To New York's JFK International Airport".
  27. ^ "First Ultra Long Range A350 XWB makes its debut". Airbus. Retrieved 20 March 2018.
  28. ^ "Boeing: 777". www.boeing.com. Retrieved 12 January 2021.
  29. ^ "Boeing: 777X". www.boeing.com. Retrieved 12 January 2021.
  30. ^ Max Kingsley-Jones (22 September 2014). "New widebodies are 'network-planning game changers'". Flightglobal. Reed Business Information.
  31. ^ "New opportunities for direct routes" (PDF). Air India. 25 August 2017.
  32. ^ "DEL-SCL". Great Circle Mapper.
  33. ^ "Jetmakers race to meet Sydney-London non-stop challenge". Reuters. 3 June 2018. Retrieved 6 December 2021.
  34. ^ "Aumentan los vuelos directos a la isla". El Nuevo Dia. 3 March 2016.
  35. ^ "DXB-SJU". Great Circle Mapper.
  36. ^ "Introducing the Qantas Dreamliner". dreamliner.qantas.com. Retrieved 11 January 2019.
  37. ^ "Experimental Qantas ultra-long-haul London to Sydney flight takes off". edition.cnn.com. Retrieved 15 November 2019.

External links[]

Retrieved from ""