Definitive 2026 ranking of the 15 longest commercial flights: routes, airlines, aircraft, distance in km and miles, scheduled time — plus what comes in 2027.
The longest non-stop commercial flight in service today is Singapore Airlines SQ23 from New York JFK to Singapore Changi: 15,349 km (9,537 miles) covered in about 18 hours and 50 minutes on an Airbus A350-900ULR. This page ranks the 15 longest scheduled passenger routes worldwide in mid-2026, with distance in both kilometers and miles, the aircraft type, and the airline-published block time.
Ultra-long-haul flying is a young category. When Singapore Airlines first launched Newark to Singapore in 2004, no other airline came close. Twenty years later, eight different carriers operate routes longer than 13,500 km, and the next milestone is already on the calendar: Qantas Project Sunrise (Sydney to London non-stop, around 17,000 km and 20 hours) is confirmed for October 2027 and will become the world's longest scheduled flight the day it launches.
All distances on this page are great-circle distances calculated with the Haversine formula. Actual flight paths are slightly longer because aircraft follow jet streams, weather routing, and air-traffic constraints. Scheduled times reflect the longer direction of each route, since westbound flights battle the prevailing jet stream and add 30 to 90 minutes compared to the eastbound leg.
"Longest" here means the greatest great-circle distance between the two airports of a scheduled, non-stop passenger flight that is bookable by the public. It is a distance ranking, not a ranking by block time: winds and routing mean a shorter route can take longer in the air.
Distances are great-circle kilometres between the airport pairs, calculated with the Haversine formula. Actual flight paths run slightly longer because aircraft follow jet streams, weather and air-traffic routing. Times are the airline-published block times for the slower direction.
| # | Route | Airline | Aircraft | km | miles | Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | New York (JFK) to Singapore (SIN) | Singapore Airlines | A350-900ULR | 15,349 | 9,537 | 18h 50m |
| 2 | Newark (EWR) to Singapore (SIN) | Singapore Airlines | A350-900ULR | 15,344 | 9,534 | 18h 45m |
| 3 | Auckland (AKL) to Doha (DOH) | Qatar Airways | A350-1000 | 14,535 | 9,033 | 16h 34m |
| 4 | Perth (PER) to London (LHR) | Qantas | Boeing 787-9 | 14,499 | 9,010 | 17h 25m |
| 5 | Dallas (DFW) to Melbourne (MEL) | Qantas | Boeing 787-9 | 14,472 | 8,993 | 17h 13m |
| 6 | Perth (PER) to Paris (CDG) | Qantas | Boeing 787-9 | 14,263 | 8,863 | 16h 40m |
| 7 | New York (JFK) to Auckland (AKL) | Air New Zealand / Qantas | Boeing 787-9 | 14,207 | 8,829 | 16h 52m |
| 8 | Auckland (AKL) to Dubai (DXB) | Emirates | Airbus A380-800 | 14,200 | 8,824 | 16h 41m |
| 9 | Mexico City (MEX) to Shenzhen (SZX) | China Southern | A350-900 | 14,124 | 8,777 | 17h 00m |
| 10 | Los Angeles (LAX) to Singapore (SIN) | Singapore Airlines | A350-900ULR | 14,114 | 8,771 | 16h 10m |
| 11 | San Francisco (SFO) to Bengaluru (BLR) | Air India | Boeing 777-200LR | 14,004 | 8,703 | 17h 22m |
| 12 | Houston (IAH) to Sydney (SYD) | United Airlines | Boeing 787-9 | 13,834 | 8,596 | 17h 30m |
| 13 | Dallas (DFW) to Sydney (SYD) | Qantas | Boeing 787-9 | 13,804 | 8,579 | 16h 44m |
| 14 | New York (JFK) to Manila (MNL) | Philippine Airlines | A350-900 | 13,712 | 8,522 | 16h 13m |
| 15 | Los Angeles (LAX) to Hong Kong (HKG) | Delta Air Lines | A350-900 | 13,580 | 8,438 | 15h 45m |
On 2 June 2026 Airbus rolled the first A350-1000ULR out of its Toulouse final assembly line. The aircraft is purpose-built for Qantas Project Sunrise, which will connect Sydney to London Heathrow non-stop in roughly 20 hours over a great-circle distance of about 17,000 km. Sydney to New York non-stops are expected to follow.
Qantas has configured the cabin for about 238 passengers, roughly 100 fewer than a standard A350-1000, to make room for additional crew rest bunks, a passenger stretching zone, and extra fuel. When Sydney to London enters service in October 2027, every other route on this ranking is bumped down a position.
Only a handful of aircraft can fly more than 14,000 km with a full passenger payload. The Airbus A350-900ULR is the only variant certified for the very longest routes and is operated exclusively by Singapore Airlines, with 24,000 additional liters of fuel carried in modified center tanks and a two-class layout limited to 161 passengers.
The Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner handles routes between 13,000 and 14,500 km for Qantas, Air New Zealand, and United Airlines. Its composite airframe is lighter than older aluminum designs, and the cabin is pressurized to an equivalent altitude of 1,800 meters rather than 2,400 meters, which materially reduces fatigue on a 17-hour flight. Older types like the Boeing 777-200LR and Airbus A380-800 still appear on the longest-flights ranking for specific airlines and city pairs.
The pacing of an ultra-long flight differs from a typical overnight crossing. Cabin crew serve dinner shortly after takeoff, dim the cabin for an extended 8 to 10 hour sleep window, run a mid-flight snack service, and serve a second meal before landing. Operating crews work in shifts using sealed rest compartments above or below the main deck.
Frequent ultra-long-haul flyers consistently report that the second half of the flight is easier than the first: once past the 10-hour mark, landing is closer than takeoff. The standard advice is to hydrate continuously, eat lightly, and get up to walk for a few minutes every two hours.
According to OAG data, the average distance of the top 10 longest non-stop routes was around 12,665 km in 2000, rose to 13,520 km by 2010, and reached 14,504 km in 2025, an increase of about 14.5 percent across a quarter century. Two forces drive the trend: efficient widebodies like the A350 and 787 made thinner long-haul markets economical, and passenger demand for one-stop convenience between previously disconnected city pairs (Auckland to Doha, Perth to Paris, Bengaluru to San Francisco) is now strong enough to sustain daily widebody service.
SnapDistance reports great-circle distance — the shortest path over the surface of the Earth — and derives travel-time estimates from it. Here is exactly how each number is produced, and where it stops being reliable.
As of June 2026 the longest scheduled non-stop commercial flight is Singapore Airlines SQ23 from New York JFK to Singapore Changi: 15,349 km (9,537 miles) in approximately 18 hours 50 minutes, operated by an Airbus A350-900ULR.
Yes. Qantas Project Sunrise, Sydney to London Heathrow non-stop, is scheduled to launch in October 2027. At roughly 17,000 km and around 20 hours it will immediately become the world's longest scheduled flight.
Two types dominate: the Airbus A350-900ULR (Singapore Airlines for all of its 14,000 km+ routes) and the Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner (Qantas, Air New Zealand, and United for routes between 13,000 and 14,500 km).
All distances are great-circle distances calculated with the Haversine formula, the shortest path between two points on the Earth's surface. Actual flight paths are slightly longer because aircraft route around weather, restricted airspace, and into favorable jet streams.
The jet stream blows west to east. Flying with it (eastbound) is faster; flying against it (westbound) adds 30 to 90 minutes to a transcontinental flight. SQ23 westbound takes about 50 minutes longer than SQ24 eastbound despite covering the same physical distance.
No. They follow the same ETOPS (Extended-range Twin-engine Operations) certification as shorter routes, and modern twin-engine widebodies are certified for up to 370 minutes from the nearest diversion airport. Safety standards are identical.