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11th Oct 2018

The world’s longest non-stop flight takes off today

Paul Moore

World's longest flight

16,700km in total.

Imagine spending 19 hours on a plane and absolutely hating every single in-flight film or TV show that the flight has to offer. Wouldn’t you go mad?

Well, if you happen to be travelling from Singapore to New York in the future, or vice versa, you could be about to embark on a record-breaking flight, as a new route is about to launch between the two destinations and in doing so, it will become the world’s longest non-stop flight.

Here’s hoping that they’ve got some decent in-flight entertainment.

Singapore Airlines has relaunched this lengthy flight, five years after they withdrew it because it had become too expensive.

The journey covers a distance of 16,700km in just under 19 hours, making it the record holder in both distance and time.

In terms of the nearest rival for this prestigious accolade, Qantas launched a 17-hour non-stop service from Perth to London earlier this year, while Qatar runs a 17 hours, 30 minute service between Auckland and Doha. United’s Houston to Sydney also takes the same amount of time.

The BBC reports that a business class ticket will entitle passengers to two meals, a choice of when they are served, plus refreshments in between and a bed to sleep in, while premium economy fares will get three meals at fixed times, with refreshments in between.

The brand-new Airbus A350-900ULR will depart from Changi Airport and land in Newark’s international airport in New Jersey. The cabin is configured into two segments: 67 business class seats and 94 premium economy seats.

Of two possible routes that Singapore Airlines could take to Newark, the airline has already told its passengers that they’ll be opting for the NOPAC route, or the North Pacific route.

Here’s hoping that nobody on the flight gets jet lag because with a flight that long, it would probably take two weeks to recover.