Emirates A380 from Dubai to NZ makes longest non-stop flight

[xtemujin 0]

Emirates A380 from Dubai to NZ makes longest non-stop flight

 

An Emirates Airbus A380 jet has made what is believed to be the current longest non-stop scheduled commercial flight by distance.

 

The plane covered about 14,200km (8,824 miles) when it touched down in Auckland, New Zealand on Wednesday.

 

It was expected to be the world's longest non-stop commercial flight by duration as well, but landed too early.

 

The return flight to Dubai left around 22:20 local time (15:20 GMT), according to New Zealand media.

 

The Auckland-Dubai portion was estimated to take around 17 hours and 15 minutes, but in the end took only 16 hours and 24 minutes, according to the New Zealand Herald.

 

The new route reportedly reduces the current travel time by three hours.

 

The inaugural flight was made by an A380, but the route will normally be operated by a Boeing 777-200LR.

 

Emirates said it expects "high demand" for the new route.

 

Long flights

The new route has beaten the Dallas-Sydney flight operated by Qantas, previously the longest flight by distance in activity, covering 13,800km (8,578 miles).

 

The Qantas service, however, remains the world's longest flight in duration - 16 hours and 55 minutes.

 

But this is set to be short-lived, as Emirates plans to launch a Dubai-Panama City service later in March that will take 17 hours and 35 minutes.

The new service, however, will cover about 13,820km (8,588 miles), falling short of the new Dubai-Auckland route.

 

Qatar Airways has also announced plans to launch even longer flights - from its hub in Doha to Santiago, in Chile, and also to Auckland, Bloomberg reported.

 

But again, all of this is expected to change, as Singapore Airlines revealed plans last year to bring back its Singapore-New Jersey service in 2018. The flight will cover some 15,300km (9,500 miles) in 19 hours.

 

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-35710969

[KK Lee 5]

Guess mh, sq could forget to connect NZ pax to Europe.

[Waiping 12]

Yup, they should be a little bit down to earth at the moment.

[Azman MN 1]

Well, through the wonders of marketing, the ME carriers already cornered the market. In the last few years I met a few people here in Europe who went to NZ who were convinced that the trip cannot be done with only 1 stop and 2 stops were required. When I told them that they could have chosen asian carriers for 1 stop flights they would not believe me...

 

Even last week one of my staff in Frankfurt told me that she needed 4 weeks for her vacation because she would spend more than 30 hours to get there.... huh? When I told her that SQ, TG,CX, etc. would only stop once she looked very confused and then annoyed that no one told her that it was possible.

[JuliusWong 0]

One off photo shoot on March 2, 2016 when the first direct flight took place. Four A380 in single shoot at Auckland International Airport.

 

The Dubai to Auckland direct flight will be operated by B772LR.

[Kee Hooi Yen 0]

CHC will now receive A380 from EK !

 

http://www.ausbt.com.au/new-emirates-a380-flights-for-sydney-christchurch-bangkok