News
Ultra long haul routes return to favour?
February 5th 2016
With the oil price remaining at a record low and not looking to change anytime soon, carriers from around the Asia-Pacific have re-evaluated the economics of ultra-long-haul (ULH) routes, with the Airbus 380 and the Boeing 777LR, among others, attracting the attention of route planners. Read More »
The latest ULH to touch down in the region will be United Airlines’ San Francisco-Singapore B787-9 nonstop service from June 1. The flight will take approximately 16 hours and 20 minutes to Singapore, saving more than four hours compared to United’s transit service via Narita.
United beat Singapore Airlines (SIA) to opening the only direct link between Singapore and the U.S. SIA plans to resume non-stop services to both U.S. coasts with the arrival of its A350LRs, from 2018. Despite being Star Alliance partners, SIA and United traditionally do not codeshare with each other.
Emirates Airline will overtake Qantas Airways in February in offering the world’s longest direct flight, from Dubai to Panama City, using a B777-200LR. The Australian carrier’s Sydney-Dallas route is currently the world’s longest, closely followed by Delta Air Lines’ Atlanta-Johannesburg B777LR service and Etihad Airways’ Abu Dhabi-Los Angeles rotation, also on the B777LR.
That said, Qatar Airways might beat them all later this year after boss, Akbar Al Baker, went on record last month with the news the carrier planned a nonstop Doha-Auckland flight, an 18 hours 30 minutes journey, also on the B777 long-range variant. Al Baker also has revealed plans for a link to Santiago, Chile.
Shortly after Al Baker announced that an Auckland service was in the planning stages, Emirates formally unveiled its Dubai-New Zealand B777LR direct service from March 1, to complement its three existing daily A380 flights to Aotearoa International Airport. They operate via Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney, respectively. If, and until, the Doha-Auckland route opens, the Emirates service will be the world’s longest commercial flight.
