What Is The Longest Non-Stop Flight? (And Which Plane Do You Have To Take?)

An average of 130,000 flights took place around the world every day from December 2024 to July 2025. While some flights are very short, others are much, much longer. In the United States, the longest commercial flight is from Boston, Massachusetts, to Honolulu, Hawaii, which covers a distance of 5,086 miles. This, however, pales in comparison next to the world's longest nonstop flight, which is the Singapore to New York route flown by Singapore Airlines on the Airbus A350-900 ULR. This flight covers an impressive 9,537 miles, without any scheduled stops or layovers along the way.

Officially designated as Singapore Airlines flights SQ23, and SQ24, these two flights are currently the longest routine, nonstop flight routes worldwide. Departing from Singapore's Changi Airport and landing in New York's JFK Airport, the flight follows a westward route that takes it over the airspaces of Malaysia, the Philippines, and Japan, and later traverses the vast expanse of the Pacific Ocean. It then flies across Alaska and Canada, passing through 12 time zones before finally landing in New York City. The whole journey takes around 19 hours.

Before the direct flight to New York, Singapore Airlines was already operating the previous longest nonstop direct flight with its Changi Airport to New Jersey, Newark Liberty International Airport route. This service was cancelled in 2013 but restarted two years later. The newer nonstop direct flight to New York was introduced by Singapore Airlines in November 2020. It currently provides seven flights a week. 

The current pricing for a round-trip ticket for the Singapore Airlines SQ23 flight is about $1,500 for Premium Economy, and around $6,300 for Business Class if you book directly with the airline. There are also ways to find cheap flights online by choosing the right booking windows or setting fare alerts. There are no economy seats on these flights due to the long flight duration, and for these prices, Singapore Airlines offers ample amenities for its passengers. It provides more legroom than shorter flights, plus a charging port in the seat, storage compartments, a large LCD monitor, and free wifi across all classes, which, given the travel time, is advantageous for its passengers, as not all airlines offer free internet access.

Flying to a destination this far requires highly capable aircraft, and Singapore Airlines is currently the only carrier that utilizes the specifically modified wide-body Airbus A350-900 Ultra Long Range. With nine units currently in its fleet, the Airbus seats only 161 passengers for the Changi to JFK Airport route, and to fly nonstop, it carries nearly 44,000 gallons of fuel, giving it a maximum range of over 12,178 miles. As a variant of the original A350-900, it was created by Airbus to serve ultra-long-range destinations and first flew for Singapore Airlines in October 2018.

Worldwide, several airlines are currently serving 20 ultra-long-haul flight routes, with the shortest distance nearly 8,300 miles. Given the growth of airline travel in recent years, nonstop flights like the Singapore to New York route are likely to continue and expand well into the future.