The 20 Longest Nonstop Flights In The World (Up To 9,537 Miles!)

Over the past decade, we’ve seen a trend whereby airlines have added an incredible number of new ultra long haul flights. In this post, I want to summarize the world’s longest flights, what other ultra long haul flights might be on the horizon, and share why these are more practical than in the past.

Why ultra long haul flights are more practical than ever

Why have we seen airlines launch so many ultra long haul flights in the past several years? It primarily comes down to new aircraft technology. In the past decade, the Airbus A350 and Boeing 787 have become the backbone of many carriers’ long haul fleets, and these planes are great for airlines and passengers:

• The planes are ultra long range, and can operate some nonstop flights that previous generation aircraft couldn’t
• The planes have lower capacity than previous generation aircraft (like the Boeing 747), which opens up more viable markets; it’s much easier to profitably fill 250 seats than it is to profitably fill 400 seats
• The planes have great economics, and per-passenger fuel burn is significantly lower than previous generation aircraft
• The viability of ultra long haul flights is largely dependent on there being significant premium demand, and we’ve seen very strong global demand in recent years for premium seats

So yeah, long range, fuel efficient, low capacity aircraft have done wonders for airlines when it comes to the viability of ultra long haul city pairs. Many routes that could have previously never been profitable now make sense.

The world’s 20 longest nonstop flights as of March 2025

I’d like to take an updated look at the world’s longest flights, given how much the list has changed over the years. Let’s take a look at the 20 longest flights.

I’m basing this list on direct air distance between city pairs, since obviously Russian airspace issues are causing airlines to largely operate circuitous routings. Furthermore, I think distance is a better metric than length of flight, since winds can also have an impact on the duration of flights, and on top of that, some airlines do a lot of schedule padding.

Note that I’ll only be counting flights that are currently operating, or are expected to operate in the coming months. What’s pretty amazing to me is that all of these flights are well over 8,000 miles, which is a long way to go nonstop.

What are the world’s longest flights? Here they are, starting with the longest (I’m including the airline that operates the route, the distance, and the aircraft type used):

1. Singapore (SIN) to New York (JFK) / Singapore Airlines / 9,537 miles / Airbus A350-900ULR
2. Singapore (SIN) to Newark (EWR) / Singapore Airlines / 9,523 miles / Airbus A350-900ULR
3. Doha (DOH) to Auckland (AKL) / Qatar Airways / 9,032 miles / Airbus A350-1000
4. Perth (PER) to London (LHR) / Qantas / 9,010 miles / Boeing 787-9
5. Melbourne (MEL) to Dallas (DFW) / Qantas / 8,992 miles / Boeing 787-9
6. Perth (PER) to Paris (CDG) / Qantas / 8,863 miles / Boeing 787-9
7. Auckland (AKL) to New York (JFK) / Air New Zealand & Qantas / 8,828 miles / Boeing 787-9
8. Dubai (DXB) to Auckland (AKL) / Emirates / 8,824 miles / Airbus A380
9. Shenzhen (SZX) to Mexico City (MEX) / China Southern / Airbus A350-900 / 8,791 miles
10. Singapore (SIN) to Los Angeles (LAX) / Singapore Airlines / 8,770 miles / Airbus A350-900
11. Bangalore (BLR) to San Francisco (SFO) / Air India / 8,701 miles / Boeing 777-200LR
12. Houston (IAH) to Sydney (SYD) / United Airlines / 8,596 miles / Boeing 787-9
13. Sydney (SYD) to Dallas (DFW) / Qantas / 8,578 miles / Boeing 787-9
14. Manila (MNL) to New York (JFK) / Philippine Airlines / 8,520 miles / Airbus A350-900
15. Singapore (SIN) to San Francisco (SFO) / Singapore Airlines & United Airlines / 8,446 miles / Airbus A350-900 & Boeing 787-9
16. Atlanta (ATL) to Johannesburg (JNB) / Delta / 8,439 miles / Airbus A350-900
17. Mumbai (BOM) to San Francisco (SFO) / Air India / 8,406 miles / Boeing 777-200LR
18. Dubai (DXB) to Los Angeles (LAX) / Emirates / 8,339 miles / Airbus A380
19. Jeddah (JED) to Los Angeles (LAX) / Saudia / 8,332 miles / Boeing 777-300ER
20. Doha (DOH) to Los Angeles (LAX) / Qatar Airways / 8,306 miles / Airbus A350-1000

I intentionally left out the flight times, since they fluctuate throughout the year due to winds. Furthermore, some airlines pad their schedules more than others (in order to create artificial on-time arrivals). All 20 of these flights are blocked anywhere between 15hr5min and 18hr50min.

The one asterisk I should add is that the Shenzhen to Mexico City flight only operates nonstop in the eastbound direction. It’s so long that in the westbound direction a refueling stop is needed in Tijuana.

Below is a map with all the routes, which is quite cluttered, as you can see.

What record-breaking flights are on the horizon?

A majority of the world’s longest flights haven’t been around for that long, which raises the question of what else might be on the horizon. Purely in terms of record-breaking flights, that’s probably an area where Qantas will continue to lead the way.

The oneworld carrier is working on its “Project Sunrise” concept, whereby we’ll see nonstop flights from Melbourne and Sydney to London and New York using special Airbus A350-1000s. We have seen some delays with this, and at this point, the expectation is that these flights will launch in the first half of 2027. All four of those routes will be longer than any existing routes by a pretty healthy margin.

Those aren’t the only Qantas flights that might be on the horizon that would make the “top 20” list. Pre-pandemic, Qantas planned to launch a Brisbane to Chicago flight, which would cover a distance of 8,916 miles. It’s anyone’s guess if this flight ends up launching eventually, but it’s another potential ultra long haul route.

Bottom line

We’re seeing more ultra long haul flights than ever before, with so many new routes having been launched in the past decade. This is thanks to how amazing the Airbus A350 and Boeing 787 are. Compared to previous generation aircraft, these planes are low capacity, long range, and fuel efficient.

While these marathon flights are great for those traveling in a premium cabin, I can’t imagine doing a nonstop flight like this in economy. In those situations I feel like I’d rather break up the journey than fly nonstop. Heck, even in business class I feel like some of these flights are too long.

Which ultra long haul flight do you find most interesting, and what do you think we’ll see added next?