 |
| A Singapore Airlines Airbus A350-900 plane takes off at Changi Airport in Singapore, March 28, 2018. Photo: REUTERS/Edgar Su/File Photo |
By Vaishnavi Vaidyanathan, International Business Times
Singapore Airlines (SIA) in a news release Wednesday said it will launch the world’s longest commercial flight on October 11 between Singapore and New York. The flights will offer 161 business class and premium economy seats but will not have economy class seating.
The flight with higher ceilings, larger windows and better air quality will take off from Singapore's Changi Airport bound for Newark Liberty Airport near New York City — a distance of 16,700 km which will be covered in 19 hours.
With this, the airline will dethrone the 14,525 km Qatar Airways flights from Doha to Auckland, New Zealand, as the world’s longest flight.
The airline had flown marathon flights on the route until 2013 when high fuel prices made the use of jets uneconomic. Since then, they have been flown to New York's JFK Airport via Frankfurt, Germany. Hence this will mark the return of a popular route for the airline.
The flight will initially operate three times a week on Mondays, Thursdays and Saturday from Changi Airport. Daily operations will start once an additional aircraft comes into service on October 18. Tickets will be made available across various booking channels from Thursday.
SIA CEO Goh Choon Phong said, “We are pleased to be leading the way with these new non-stop flights using the latest-technology, ultralong-range Airbus A350-900ULR,” reported Channel News Asia.
The first aircraft in this new Airbus range is expected to be delivered in September while the remaining seven are due for delivery by the end of the year.
Lim Ching Kiat, managing director (air hub development) of Changi Airport Group, said, "With the advent of ultralong-range aircraft, non-stop long haul routes are now more efficient and viable.”
"I’m confident it will be well-received by Changi Airport’s passengers, especially time-pressed business travellers. With strong traffic growth between the North America and Southeast Asia regions, there are growth opportunities to be tapped," he added.
The airline also said it also has plans for non-stop Singapore-Los Angeles flights, which will be announced later.
"From October our West Australian customers will be able to access one of the fastest one-stop options from the west coast of Australia to the East Coast of America,” Singapore Airlines' regional vice president Phillip Goh said stating that Australians will also be benefited from the new route.
Australia's Qantas Airways started the first non-stop flights between Australia and the United Kingdom earlier this year. It is also planning to purchase A350-900ULR or Boeing Co’s 777X to allow it to fly 17,000 kms non-stop from Sydney to London from 2022.
