THE CURATED EDITION.
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Singapore Airlines still owns the two longest scheduled routes on earth, at more than 15,300 km each. A 24-hour Airbus test flight in July showed how far the ranking is about to stretch.
SEA & SKY · ULTRA-LONG-HAUL
The longest flights measure endurance as much as distance. They cross whole oceans and a dozen time zones, and they test the line between a well-made cabin and human patience. Above them all sits a flight no one could book: in July 2026 a specially adapted Airbus A350-1000ULR flew from Melbourne to Toulouse without stopping, 23,075 km in 24 hours and 24 minutes, as part of the test campaign for Qantas’s Project Sunrise.
Among routes that can actually be booked, the ranking below follows the OAG Schedules Analyser data published in May 2026, measured in great-circle distance, the shortest line between two points on the globe. As always in aviation, networks, aircraft and frequencies change.
1. New York JFK to Singapore. Singapore Airlines, 15,332 km, Airbus A350-900ULR. The longest scheduled flight in the world takes around 18 hours 40 minutes, sometimes nearer 19, depending on the winds.
2. Newark to Singapore. Singapore Airlines, 15,329 km, Airbus A350-900ULR. Three kilometres shorter than its sister route across the river, it gives the airline both top places.
3. Auckland to Doha. Qatar Airways, 14,526 km, Airbus A350-1000 or Boeing 777-200LR. One of the longest links between Oceania and the Gulf.
4. London Heathrow to Perth. Qantas, 14,499 km, Boeing 787-9. The westbound London to Perth service flies non-stop. In the other direction, Qantas has routed Perth to London via Singapore during the airspace disruption over the Middle East, and plans to keep that stop from 25 October 2026 to 31 January 2027.
5. Dallas Fort Worth to Melbourne. Qantas, 14,468 km, Boeing 787-9. One of the longest passenger links between the United States and Australia.
6. Paris Charles de Gaulle to Perth. Qantas, 14,265 km, Boeing 787-9. Sixth in the OAG ranking, although Qantas has since been routing its Paris flying via Singapore rather than Perth, a change it plans to keep through January 2027.
7. Auckland to New York JFK. Air New Zealand and Qantas, 14,209 km, Boeing 787 and 787-9. Air New Zealand opened the route in 2022 and Qantas followed about a year later. Before that, the journey meant at least one stop.
8. Auckland to Dubai. Emirates, 14,193 km, Airbus A380-800. Among the longest scheduled services flown by the largest passenger aircraft in operation, heading west over the Indian Ocean.
9. Mexico City to Shenzhen. China Southern Airlines, 14,124 km, Airbus A350. Launched in May 2024, it links the Mexican capital with southern China across the Pacific.
10. Los Angeles to Singapore. Singapore Airlines, 14,096 km, Airbus A350-900. Around 17 hours 40 minutes, and the airline’s third entry on the list.
None of the long routes launched in 2026, Doha to Bogotá included at about 13,700 km, is long enough to break into this list. The next real shift belongs to Qantas: the first of its twelve A350-1000ULR aircraft is due in 2027, and the airline expects to begin daily non-stop flights between Sydney and London from October that year.
Distance used to be something airlines apologised for. On these routes it has become the product itself, and the July test flight suggests the ceiling is still some way above the clouds.
GABRIEL SILVEIRADO, FOR WAYFARER.
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