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What Is The Longest Nonstop Flight In The World?

What is the longest nonstop flight in the world?

One of the first questions people asked me ahead of my trip to Africa back in the fall of 2009 was how long the flight was, to which I would answer, “I don’t know, a few hours.” Well, it was actually 14 hours, 55 minutes, by far the longest flight I’d had ever taken until that time. And it got me thinking: What is the longest nonstop flight in the world? Well, the answer’s not exactly exact, given that you’re looking at different flight lengths due to fluctuations in jet streams, weather conditions and the daily whims of the airlines based on fuel prices (flying slower saves expensive jet fuel).

But the current record holder for the longest nonstop commercial flight in the world is Singapore Airlines Flight 21, clocking in at a whopping 18 hours and 40 minutes (scheduled length). This 9,527-mile (15,332 kilometers) flight on an Airbus A340-500 from Newark to Singapore is about 15 minutes faster than the return flight from Singapore to Newark as a result of the jet stream. As you can see on this live map of the flight, the plane actually takes a slightly longer route over Europe due to various safety issues (the fastest route would be north over the North Pole and over Siberia).

Rounding out the top 10 longest nonstop flights in the world are the following:

  • Los Angeles to Singapore (18 hours, 10 minutes)
  • Los Angeles to Bangkok (18 hours)
  • Johannesburg to Atlanta (17 hours, 5 minutes)
  • Doha to Houston (16 hours, 35 minutes)
  • Dubai to Los Angeles (16 hours, 30 minutes)
  • Dubai to Houston (16 hours, 30 minutes)
  • Dubai to San Francisco (16 hours)
  • New York to Hong Kong (16 hours, 5 minutes)
  • Newark to Hong Kong (16 hours)

The record for the longest flight by a commercial airplane ever (though this was a test flight with no real passengers) was a Boeing 777-200LR’s 11,664-nautical mile trek from London to Hong Kong, which lasted 22 hours and 42 minutes and saw two sunrises.

The 777-200LR left Hong Kong International Airport at 10:30 p.m. on November 9, 2005, and landed at London Heathrow Airport at approximately 1:30 p.m. GMT November 10, 2005. To travel that distance (rather than take a shorter, Polar route), the plane traveled eastbound towards London, flying over the North Pacific Ocean, across North America, and then over the mid-north Atlantic Ocean. That flight shattered the previous record holder which was a 747 Boeing London to Sydney flight that traveled 9,200 miles.


Posted on August 20, 2009 by Matt Stabile

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  • guest

    To set the record straight, (no pun intended), the record duration for a commercial passenger airline flight which has never been broken, is the inaugural TWA London to San Francisco flight of October 1-2, 1957 by a Lockheed Constellation. The aircraft was airborne for 23 hours and 19 minutes. Top that, 747!

  • Oz

    The new Sydney (AUS) to Dallas Fort Worth (USA) flight pushes the 747 to its limit. To USA is 15h 10m, but return is 19h 15m - that +4 hours for the jet stream. However the flight to Oz has not made it back several times, having to divert to either NZ or Brisbane. Oh and remember that flight is over water almost all the way, with just a few small island that don’t really cater for a long range 747, so best to check out emergency video on that flight.

    • Anonymous

      That’s hilarious, I’m not sure I like the idea of having to chance diverting on the return flight.

  • 3333

    It’s funny that your question is ‘longest flight in the world’ and for some reason the ones you list bar the last all originate or end in north America! As several other people have commented, it’s australia to Britain. Planes And airports exist outside the USA!!!

    • Anonymous

      Actually, the question was what the longest nonstop flight in the world. There have been rumors that Virgin would offer a nonstop flight from the UK to AU, but that hasn’t happened yet: http://bit.ly/vty2NE

  • Matty Weathers

    21 hours from Aussie to Britain

    • Anonymous

      I was examining nonstop flights.

  • Nathan

    Aussie to Britain

    • Anonymous

      I was examining nonstop flights.

  • http://villasspain.clubvillamar.co.uk/findAllVillas.php?region=Ibiza villas ibiza

    This is very interesting post. I wish I could experience the same flight. I always like to travel through flights and some how it is one of the reason for my vacations..

  • Ovidiu_au

    25 hours single pilot in a Cessna 172 across the Pacific between Hilo and Pago Pago
    http://www.globalpilot.info

    • Anonymous

      I was just looking at commercial flights. I’m sure there have been plenty of longer flights in the world involving private planes and military jets.

  • Revrnjim

    delta 200 atlanta to johannesburg 15:15 8449sm

  • Rahul

    A flight from Chicago to New Delhi is also about 15 hours - one of the longest flight I ever took *sigh*

  • BUBBA LEE

    YOU LEFT OUT THE FLIGHT FROM JFK TO BANGKOK(THAI AIRLINES) WHICH IS 18 HOURS AND 25 MINUTES MAKING IT THE SECOND LONGEST FLIGHT IN THE WORLD

    • Rojer_batsub

      You left out my flight from Norway to England once with the RAF which was nearly 5 days including delays!!

      • Anonymous

        I was just looking at commercial flights.

    • Anonymous

      I was looking at nonstop flights.

  • http://www.flylink.ca/ cheap fly tickets

    Thanks for the information.. I was not aware of it.. I am glad I visited here and come to know about it.. Longest non stop flights are very helpful as it saves time some how..

  • Jamie

    OMFG a 22 hour non-stop flight??

    The longest flight I've ever been on was 10 hours, and that was from Vancouver, Canada to Beijing, China.
    I nearly died; it was so uncomfortable and brutal. If I can barely live through a 10-hour flight, then there's no hope for me for a 22-hour one… x_x

  • Blake

    Also, regarding the 22 hour flight between London and Hong Kong mentioned in the original article, that couldn't be more wrong of a statement. Either the Guinness Book is completely off, or the writer put the wrong information down. The flight is only 11.5-12 hours long in a 777, and covers a little over 6000 miles (not 13,400). Plus going that direction would give the aircraft a tailwind, and increase its ground speed. I would recommend deleting that comment because its outrageous.

    • TheExpeditioner

      It was a test flight, not the normal route.

    • http://profiles.google.com/adlenkahlerras adlen kahlerras

      The flight path were : Hong Kong -> Pacific ocean -> north America -> Atlantic ocean then England .

      It was a test flight.

  • Blake

    I took the LA-Singapore flight the 3rd day it was in service in 2004, and I flew coach. The coach on that airplane actually wasn't bad - it was an improved version of normal coach, with bigger reclines, more legroom, small legrests that popped up. I wasn't that uncomfortable. Still I like how that converted the planes to all-business.

  • ja!

    Just took the flight from Newark to Singapore yesterday (or maybe the day before as i lost the 31st). One good thing they've done is make it business class only. Sitting for that long in economy would be excruciatingly painful. Good flight though, Singapore airlines has great service.

  • Will

    Dont forget the longest flight TIME set by a Cessna 172 in 1958 at 64 DAYS 22 hrs 19min 5 sec. They refueled inflight by flying down a road with a speeding fuel truck fueling them up.

  • http://www.kinsel.com.br Kinsel

    I Really dont know What’s The Longest Nonstop Flight In The World!!!!

  • Joy

    I would take the long non stop with 3 sleeping pills, you wake up just in time for breakfast.

  • http://expatheather.com Heather

    I'm not sure if I'd rather have one super long flight (like the 18 hour one) or three different flights where I have to deal with stopovers. Being on one plane for a long time makes me very restless, but then again running through airport terminals in an attempt to not miss my connecting flight induces a LOT more anxiety.

  • Vince

    And I thought my 8 1/2 hour flight from Paris to Chicago was bad… lol

  • http://www.portoemaldonado.adv.br Advogado Porto

    Well, I can say a pretty short trip is NHT's from Rio Grande to Pelotas, that are two neighboor cities, in southern Brazil, and lasts 10 min.

  • tomcon

    the shortest is actually LoganAir 'island hopper' service between Westray and Papa Westray in Scotland. Air New Zealand fly DIRECT from LHR (London Heathrow) to AKL (Auckland) but I think it refuels in LAX (Los Angeles) so that might not count :)

  • tomcon

    the shortest is actually LoganAir 'island hopper' service between Westray and Papa Westray in Scotland. Air New Zealand fly DIRECT from LHR (London Heathrow) to AKL (Auckland) but I think it refuels in LAX (Los Angeles) so that might not count :)

    • Emile Roux1

      Washington DC to Johannesburg. 17 1/2 hours…….

  • LK

    Wow; I'm going to Uganda in January and my trip there will consist of 3 flights; 3 hours, 12 hours, and 13 hours, plus 5 hours total in layovers between the last two. I hope your trip went well!

  • Lindsey

    bring a few books and some good music to sleep too :) have an amazing trip! can't wait to hear all about it.


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