AVIAPRO CONSULTING BLOG

 

One of the World’s Longest Flights Returns to the Air

16 November 2020

By Kevin Clarke, Head of Aviation Consulting, AviaPro

On Monday, November 9 one of the world’s longest flights, Singapore to New York, resumed service with Singapore Airlines.  Running 3 times weekly with an Airbus A350-900, the service operates to New York JFK, replacing the airline’s former link between Singapore and Newark.  Block times are 17 hours and 55 minutes eastbound, and 18 hours 40 minutes westbound, covering a great circle distance of 15,348 km.

  

SIN-JFK SQ24 flight path (Source: Flightradar24.com)

At a time when commercial air travel has been so severly impacted by the global pandemic, Singapore Airlines is counting on its increased aircraft cleaning regimen, advanced on-board air filtration systems, and madatory mask-wearing requirement to appease the concerns of travellers. 

The non-stop service gives passengers who are concerned about the added COVID exposure of time spent in a connecting airport, the option to avoid that scenario completely. As more passengers return to air travel, it will be interesting to see if they are willing to pay even more for nonstop services than before, due to the perceived lower COVID risk.

In any event, the launch of this flight symbolizes hope for the recovery that is to come.

Singapore Airlines A350-900 (Source: Singaporeair.com)

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