Do you have 18 hours and 45 minutes?
This is the duration of a new flight between Singapore and Newark airport, in the suburbs of New York. From October 18, it will be the longest commercial flight in the world, departing three times a week.
Compare that to the shortest scheduled commercial flight, a trip of less than two minutes, from Loganair, between Westray and Papa Westray, two islands in Scotland. No time to settle in, we've already arrived! Who says better?
Singapore Airlines will therefore be the first airline to use a very long-range Airbus A350-900 ULR. It has extra fuel capacity (yes, it does!), it's made with carbon fiber that's lighter than aluminum, and it uses less fuel thanks to its two motors compared to the usual four. This gives it a flight capacity of nearly 18,000 km. It is also configured to carry 161 passengers:67 in business class and 94 in premium economy class. It's not given to everyone!
But this nonstop flight is intended to attract business travelers. This explains the choice of Newark airport which gives business customers easy access to Manhattan and northern New Jersey.
However, Singapore Airlines has planned everything for the comfort of these travelers:premium seats, high ceilings, larger windows, an extra-wide body as well as an LED lighting system to reduce the feeling of lag. hourly. Enough to be comfortable for almost 19 hours (it's very long)!
It should beat the previous record (5:40 p.m.) held by the Qatar Airways Boeing 777-200LR, which linked the Qatari capital of Doha to Auckland, New Zealand.
