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Singapore Airlines launches world’s longest flight to New York
Singapore Airlines says it will launch the world’s longest commercial flight in October. At almost 19 hours, the non-stop journey will take passengers direct from Singapore to the New York area. The 15,300–kilometre flight from Singapore to Newark, New Jersey, will eclipse the 14,500km Qatar Airways flight from Doha to Auckland as the world’s longest, according to airline data provider OAG.
Singapore Airlines will fly the new Airbus A350-900ULR (for “Ultra Long Range”) on the route. The airline is the launch customer for the new aircraft and will take delivery of its first A350-900ULR in September. Signapore currently has 21 A350s in its fleet with 46 more on order, including seven of the ULR long-range version.
In a bold move, the plane flying the Singapore to New York route will only offer premium seating, with 67 business class and 94 premium economy class seats. This is a similar set-up to when Singapore previously flew this same route, using a four-engine Airbus A340 which featured only business class seats. The fuel inefficiency of the A340 saw the route become unprofitable and it was dropped in 2013 after less than 10 years in service.
Since then, new fuel-efficient aircraft such as the A350 and the Boeing 787 Dreamliner have seen an increase in the number of ultra-long-haul routes airlines are flying.
Airlines including Singapore Airlines, Qantas and US-based United are adding ultra-long-haul flights that can capture an airfare premium of around 20 per cent versus flights involving one or more stops.
The Singapore to Newark flight marks the return of a popular route for Singapore Airlines. The carrier had flown the marathon flights until 2013, when high fuel prices made the use of four-engine Airbus A340-500 jets uneconomic. It has since flown to New York’s JFK Airport via Frankfurt.
Singapore Airlines is Airbus’ first and to date only customer for the A350-900ULR, an ultra-long-range version of the fuel-efficient twin-engine A350 jet.
Qantas has said it is considering the purchase of the A350-900ULR or Boeing’s 777X to allow it to fly non-stop from Sydney to London from 2022, an even longer 17,000km journey.
Singapore Airlines said on Wednesday that it also plans to introduce non-stop flights from Singapore to Los Angeles with the A350-900ULR at a later date.
The airline expects to receive its first A350-900ULR in September, with all seven on order due by the end of the year.
Source: Reuter and ABC News
Update day: 02/06/2018
Update day: 02/06/2018
