The longest route in the world
For the same route, the daily flight route will be different due to various factors, so the actual flight distance is also different, but its large network route distance is always fixed.
The so-called great-circle route is the shortest path between any two points on the earth, which is a minor arc formed by the intersection of these two points and the plane of the center of the earth and the surface of the earth.
In 2018, the longest flight of the world’s major network route is the direct flight from Doha, Qatar to Auckland, New Zealand, opened by Qatar Airways in February 2017. The flight number is QR920/921.
The great circle route of this route has a distance of 14,550 kilometers, spans 10 time zones, and has an average return flight time of 17 hours. Therefore, QR921 (Auckland-Doha) is currently the world’s longest average flight time.
Qatar Airways uses Boeing 777-200LR on this route. Before Airbus A350-900ULR was born, Boeing 777-200LR was the world’s most capable passenger aircraft with long-range capabilities.
However, this route of Qatar Airways is not the longest in history. Singapore Airlines has opened a flight from Singapore Changi Airport to New York and Newark. The flight number is SQ21/22. The distance of the Great Circle route has reached 15,350 kilometers, and the longest return flight time. It took more than 18 hours.
Singapore Airlines used Airbus A340-500 aircraft to fly this route. Taking into account factors such as load reduction and passenger comfort, Singapore Airlines adopted a full business class layout on A345, so the ticket price is not cheap.
In 2013, due to poor profitability, Singapore Airlines suspended the longest non-stop flight in history.
In October 2018, Singapore Airlines received the Airbus A350-900ULR passenger aircraft to use this aircraft to reopen the world’s longest non-stop flight.
The shortest route
There are two small islands in the Orkney Islands in northern Scotland-Papa Westray Island and Westray Island. The airports on the two islands are only 2.7 kilometers apart.
Papa Westray Island has a population of only 70 people and lack of public facilities, while the number of residents on Westray Island exceeds 600. Residents of Papa Westray Island have to go to the opposite side of Westray Island to go to school and seek medical treatment. In order to make it easier for the residents on the island to go out, such a route between the two islands was opened. This is also the shortest route in the world. The official flight time is 2 minutes. If there is a tailwind, the actual flight time is only 57 seconds. Of course, if you don’t want to take a plane, you can also take a ferry. The time is about 20 minutes.
Students on the island will fly to school every Tuesday, stay with a host family for two nights, and take the return flight on Thursday.
At present, the shortest route in the world is a De Havilland Twin Otter and two Britton Norman Island BN-2s of the local Logan Airlines.
To outsiders, this flight may be a bit funny, because at a distance of 2.7 kilometers you can even see the opposite airport with the naked eye, but for residents living on the island of Papa Westre, with this flight, Life on the island will be much easier.
This route has been flying since 1967. At that time, apart from local residents, basically only archaeological researchers or medical personnel would take this flight. In 2011, with the development of tourism on the island, this flight began to be open to tourists. The one-way fare was 30 US dollars. Many tourists came here to experience the shortest flight in the world.
The longest domestic direct flight
The longest domestic direct flight route in the world is the route from Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport in France to Roland Garros Airport in French Reunion Island.
Reunion Island is located on the east side of Madagascar Island in the Indian Ocean. It was first discovered by the Portuguese in 1513, ruled by France in 1649, and then occupied by the British. In 1946, France declared Reunion as an overseas province. In addition to being one of the country’s overseas territories, Reunion is on the same level as the French mainland in terms of administrative rank.
The great circle distance of this route is about 9,380 kilometers, and the one-way flight time is about 10 hours and 30 minutes. There are two airlines flying this route, Austral Airlines and XL Airlines in France. The aircraft flying are Boeing 777-300ER and Boeing 747-400.
The longest domestic route across the continuous territory
Although the starting and ending points of the route mentioned above are in French territory, the route will pass through the airspace of other countries such as Italy, Egypt, Ethiopia, and Sudan.
As for the route described below, its starting point, ending point and the entire flight are in the airspace of the same country. It is a practical “pure domestic route”.
Thanks to its vast territory, Russia can have the longest domestic flights on intercontinental routes. The route from Moscow Vnukovo Airport to Petropavlovsk Elizovo Airport is the longest domestic route in the world across consecutive territories. The distance of the Great Circle route reaches 6790 kilometers, and the average flight time for the return journey reaches 8 hours. 20 points.
Currently this route is operated by Aeroflot’s Boeing 777-300ER aircraft.
The shortest international flight to Italy
In November 2016, the Austrian Airlines People’s Viennaline opened a new route from St. Gallen Altenrhein Airport in Switzerland to the German Port of Lungfrau, the flight distance is only 21 kilometers, the one-way flight time is only 8 minutes, and the one-way fare At 40 euros, this route is considered the shortest international flight in the world.
Since the two cities are separated by a lake called Constance, the inter-city road is 77 kilometers long and takes one hour to drive. If you take a ferry, it will take one hour and twenty minutes. Therefore, airlines have the idea to open this route. The model used is Embraer’s E-170 regional passenger jet.
After the route was opened, the actual load factor was not as expected, and the airline suspended the route in April 2017. The shortest international flight in the world only “survived” for six months, but it set a world record anyway.
The shortest international route currently in operation in the world is the island-hopping route from Angra Island in the Caribbean to Sint Maarten. The flight time is 10 minutes.
The busiest route
Many people may not have thought that the busiest air route in the world is our neighbor South Korea, and it is related to the small island of Jeju.
The route between Seoul Gimpo Airport and Jeju Airport has been ranked first in the world’s busiest passenger routes for many consecutive years. The two airports are only 450 kilometers apart. The flight from Jeju to Seoul is like a city subway. There are almost every 5-10 minutes. There are more than 190 flights every day and more than one million passengers travel between Seoul and Seoul every month. Both the number of passengers and the number of flights on Jeju Island are the world’s top routes. The vast majority of them are Koreans going to Jeju Island for vacation.
The busiest international or regional routes
The busiest international or regional routes in the world are flights between Singapore Changi Airport and Kuala Lumpur Airport in Malaysia.
According to statistics, from March 2017 to February 2018, the Singapore-Kuala Lumpur route was the world’s busiest international route with 30,537 flights, an average of 83 flights per day. On this route, as many as 8 airlines participate in market competition.
However, if you count the number of passengers, the route between Hong Kong International Airport and Taipei Taoyuan Airport is the busiest international or regional route. The number of flights between the two places throughout the year is slightly less than the Singapore-Kuala Lumpur route, which is 28,887, but Passenger traffic reached 6.5 million passengers, far exceeding the 4.5 million passengers on the Singapore-Kuala Lumpur route.
The most profitable route
The most profitable route in the world is the route between London Heathrow Airport and New York Kennedy Airport. British Airways is the biggest winner on this route. During the 12 months from April 2017 to March 2018, the United Kingdom Airline’s total revenue from this route reached US$1.04 billion, accounting for 6% of British Airways’ total revenue for the whole year. This figure is almost equal to Juneyao Airlines’ half-year operating revenue in 2017.
The reason why British Airways can make so much money on this route is because it has a large number of business travelers and it is expensive. British Airways’ official website shows that the lowest price for one-way economy class on this route is US$2,774, and the lowest price for business class is as high as US$8,797. British Airways has invested 77W and 747 heavy aircraft on this route.
