Non-stop Flight - Records

Records

Starting in 1967-68 Aerolineas Argentinas' timetables showed non stop on their Boeing 707 between Madrid and Buenos Aires, 12 h northbound and 12 h 30 min southbound; if this flight actually was nonstop, it was the longest-ever scheduled flight (by distance) until the Boeing 747SP entered service in 1976. Iran Air began its scheduled non-stop service between New York and Tehran using its newly acquired long-range Boeing 747SPs, completing the eastward journey in 11 h 15 min. Although the airline planned a non-stop Tehran–Los Angeles flight, it never materialized due to the 1979 Iranian Revolution. The flight would have made a leap in the time and distance records (12,222 km – 7,595 mi). The Tehran–New York flight was suspended in November 1979.

In April 1976 Pan Am set a new record for longest non-stop scheduled flight with its New York–Tokyo route (10,854 km – 6,745 mi). In December the airline set another record with Sydney–San Francisco, covering 11,937 km (7,417 mi). Both routes were flown by Boeing 747SP aircraft.

In May 1988 the first ultra long-haul passenger flight took off from Tel Aviv to Los Angeles, completing its journey in 13 h 41 min (12,189 km – 7,574 mi).

In modern day aviation, on August 1989, a Qantas Boeing 747-400 set a record for flying non-stop between Sydney and London at a distance of 18,001 km (11,185 mi). However, this is only a delivery flight. This is followed more recently by Singapore Airlines introduced ultra long-haul flights on 3 February 2004 to Los Angeles, and on 28 June 2004 to Newark from Singapore Changi Airport (Flight SIA 22). These two flights hold the record for the longest commercial passenger non-stop flights in the world based on both time and distance. The route from New York City (JFK or Newark) to Hong Kong is the longest non-stop route in the world to be served by more than one airline (three daily non-stop and one via Vancouver by Cathay Pacific and 1 daily by United Airlines). The routes served between Los Angeles and Sydney have the maximum number of airlines operating non-stop flights in the ultra-long-haul category. (4 Airlines - Delta Air Lines, Qantas, Virgin Australia and United Airlines) In terms of flight frequency, Emirates tops the list of ultra-long-haul flight operators, with five flights operating from its Dubai base to Dallas, Houston, Los Angeles, São Paulo, San Francisco.

On 9 November 2005 a Boeing 777-200LR, dubbed the Worldliner, completed the world's longest non-stop passenger flight, traveling 13,423 mi (21,602 km eastward), as opposed to a normal westward routing for that sector, which is much shorter at 9,647 km, from Hong Kong to London, in roughly 22 h 22 min. Aboard the 777-200LR were eight pilots including Suzanna Darcy-Henneman, Boeing's first female test pilot. Although the airplane seats 301, there were only 27 passengers aboard this flight. There were two Boeing executives; several Boeing 777 engineers; representatives from General Electric; and a dozen journalists from around the world.

This was not, however, the record for longest time aloft for an airliner. This debatable record is claimed either by the 1939 Berlin–New York non-stop flight of a reciprocal piston powered Focke-Wulf Fw 200 built for Deutsche Lufthansa (flight time 24 h 56 min) or by a Trans World Airlines Lockheed 1649A Starliner on the inaugural London–San Francisco polar route on 1–2 October 1957 (flight time 23 h 19 min). The L-1649A was the last of the Constellation series, and the ultimate piston-engine airliner in terms of range and endurance. However, from 1943 to 1945 Qantas operated a weekly return flight from Western Australia to Sri Lanka with flight times 28-33 h. This was called The Double Sunrise service. The aircraft used was the Consolidated PBY Catalina.