Ultra-long-haul (also known as "ultra-long-range operations" ) refers to the duration of a flight (flight time) 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.
Ultra-long-haul flights lasting over 16 hours 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 was set in 1943.[7] Some of the historical ultra-long-haul routes include:
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. By 2023, 29 of the 30 longest flights in the world (by great circle distance), were now all ultra-long-haul in duration ranging from 16 hours to 18 hours and 50 minutes in duration.
In 2016 and 2017, ultra-long-haul flights were launched from Dubai and Doha to Auckland respectively. Both routes became the longest duration active flights at the time of their launch.[20]
October 18, 2018, Singapore Airlines relaunched Flight SQ 21/22[21] using the fuel efficient Airbus A350-900ULR with a scheduled flight duration of 18 hours 45 minutes. It remained the world's longest scheduled ultra-long-haul commercial flight until its suspension on March 24, 2020 due to the global drop in demand due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[22]
On November 9, 2020, Singapore Airlines launched the current world's longest ultra-long-haul commercial flight of SQ 23/24 between Singapore and New York JFK airport, with a scheduled duration of 18 hours 40 minutes to cover the great circle distance of 15,349 kilometres (8,288 nmi; 9,537 mi) using an Airbus A350-900ULR.[6]
The longest range jetliner in service is the Airbus A350 XWB Ultra Long Range, capable of flying up to 18,000 kilometres (9,700 nmi; 11,000 mi). The Airbus A380 is capable of flying 14,800 kilometres (8,000 nmi; 9,200 mi) with 544 passengers.
The longest range Boeing airliner in service is the 777-200LR, which can cover 17,395 kilometres (9,393 nmi; 10,809 mi) with 301 passengers.[29][30] The Boeing 777-8X is capable of flying 16,170 kilometres (8,730 nmi; 10,050 mi) with 350 to 375 passengers. The Boeing 787-9 is capable of flying 14,800 kilometres (8,000 nmi; 9,200 mi) with 290 passengers.[31] Longer ranges are possible when not carrying passengers.
New airliners like the Airbus A330neo, Airbus A350 and Boeing 787 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.[32]
