(DailyExpertNews) — Cathay Pacific may be on the cusp of operating the world’s longest commercial flight by shifting its regular service from its hometown of Hong Kong to New York across the Atlantic — a route that would stay out of Russian airspace — in lieu of its usual path across the Pacific.
While it hasn’t fully committed to the route yet, Cathay says its transatlantic flight path would cover just under 9,000 nautical miles — equivalent to 10,357 standard miles or 16,668 kilometers. If confirmed, that would surpass the longest flight in the world at 9,534 standard miles between Singapore and New York.
While many airlines have avoided Russian airspace in the wake of Ukraine’s invasion of the country — many because of mutual air blockades — Cathay said the rerouting was due to favorable wind conditions.
“We are always conducting emergency routes for possible events or scenarios within the aviation world,” an airline representative told DailyExpertNews in a statement. “We compare flight routes daily and plan and fly what is the most efficient route on the day”,
“The transatlantic option is based on facilitating strong seasonal tailwinds at this time of year so flight time can be between 4 and 5pm, making it more favorable than the transpacific route. back on a daily basis as it is already decreasing.
“Our Airbus A350-1000 aircraft can comfortably achieve this in 16 to 17 hours with fuel consumption comparable to the flights over the Pacific.”
That’s not the only new contender for the world’s longest flight. As air travel around the world picks up again, more and more long-haul flights have been unveiled in 2022.
Top image credit: Nicolas Economou/NurPhoto via Getty Images
DailyExpertNews’s Lizzy Yee contributed to the report.
