The world’s longest flights, from Dallas–Brisbane to Singapore–New York

American Airlines has introduced a direct service from Dallas to Brisbane, earning the title of the longest nonstop flight in the airline’s network and a place in the top 10 ultra-long haul commercial flights in the sky.

The route, between the heart of Texas and the Australian east coast, will likely cover over 8,000 miles, with an average flight time expected to exceed 17 hours.

Boeing 787-9 aircrafts, reconfigured with the airline’s new luxury “Flagship Suite” seats, will depart Dallas-Fort Worth for the Gold Coast from 27 October 2024.

Long-haul has been getting steadily longer over the past decade, with record-breaking direct routes from Asia to the USA and Australia to Europe pushing nonstop flight times past the 17- and 18-hour mark.

“Ultra long-haul” is defined as any flight over 12 hours. While many of these routes are served by airlines connecting in the Middle East or southeast Asia, business travellers and those with ties to far-flung continents are increasingly allured by the prospect of a direct link.

With Qantas set to take the top spot with a mammoth nonstop route linking London Heathrow and Sydney come 2025, here is a list of the world’s current top 10 longest flights by distance in miles.

Singapore first launched a direct New York link in October 2018, flying into New Jersey’s Newark Airport. It followed up with a second service from its base at Singapore Changi Airport to New York’s JFK Airport in November 2020. The airline uses the Airbus A350-900ULR (“ultra-long range”) aircraft on the route, which has an extended range of up to 9,700 nautical miles.

Launched in February 2017 - in direct competition with Emirates’ Dubai to Auckland route, which was launched the year before - Qatar’s route is operated on a Boeing 777-200LR. It notably crosses 10 time zones on the journey.

Qantas flight 9, from Perth to London Heathrow, resumed in late May 2022 after a two-year shutdown during the pandemic. In November 2019 the airline also conducted an experimental flight from London to Sydney, known as “Project Sunrise”, lasting 19 hours 19 minutes.

Taking off in December 2022, Australia’s flagship airline connected the Texan city to the capital of Victoria to become the world’s fourth-longest passenger flight by distance.

This nonstop New York to New Zealand flight is Air New Zealand’s longest – ferrying Kiwis to and from the Big Apple in just over 17 hours.

Launched on 2 March 2016, Emirates’ hop from its home base to the major New Zealand hub was added to its existing routes via Australia. Operated on a Boeing 777-200LR aircraft, the new flight brought many of the Middle Eastern carrier’s 38 European destinations and cities within the one-stop range of New Zealand.

SIA launched its Singapore to LA route in November 2018, with the airline’s CEO Mr Goh Choon Phong saying they wanted to “redefine the convenience of travelling between Singapore and the United States”. Operated on its all-premium flagship plane, the A350-900ULR, the nonstop service has fares from £692.

India’s national air carrier has offered passengers bound for San Francisco a non-stop flight departing Bengaluru since December 2022.

United’s Texas to Australia direct flight launched in January 2018, with an airline spokesman saying: “Our Houston-Sydney service brings customers another new nonstop flight between the US and Australia, and connects more than 70 cities across eastern North America that did not have one-stop service to Australia on United before.”

Another Texas to Sydney favourite, Qantas’ landmark flight originally launched in 2011. Currently operated on a Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner, the service notably does not offer first-class or wifi onboard. It relaunched in February 2022 after a substantial pandemic pause.