What Are The World’s Longest Domestic Flights?

The longest flights in the world are naturally usually international flights. Nonetheless, several domestic flights compete with some of the most popular long-haul services that are oprerated across the continents.

Recent Breakthroughs

2020 saw numerous overhauls across the aviation industry. With the shakeup, there were two new domestic records. On March 15th of that year, Air Tahiti Nui skipped Los Angeles on its way to Paris, France from Papeete, Tahiti, due to pandemic restrictions. The distance covered was 15,715 km (8,485 NM).

The Boeing 787-9 took 15 hours and 45 minutes to complete this journey. Notably, only a handful of passengers were on the flight. Flight TN64 continued running this route until April 2020.

It wouldn’t take long for Air Tahiti Nui to hold the winner’s title as new player French bee deployed its Airbus A350-900 on a similar path on a cargo mission from Tahiti to Paris nonstop on May 14th, 2020. The aircraft left Faa’a International Airport at 10:51 to land at Orly Airport at 15:40 the next day. The total flight time was 16 hours and 49 minutes. In total, the widebody covered a ground distance of 16,129 km (8,709 NM).

With Tahiti being part of French Polynesia, it forms part of an overseas collectivity and an overseas country of France. As a result, these French missions set new records for long-distance domestic missions.

Active routes

While 2020’s ventures were impressive, these routes aren’t currently active. Nonetheless, France still leads the pack when it comes to regular nonstop domestic services.

Air France AF 647 and Air Austral UU 971/975 heads from Saint Denis, Reunion to Paris CDG, covering a distance of 9,349 km (5,048 NM). The Boeing widebodies have a scheduled duration of 11 hours and 40 minutes to complete the journey. On a similar route, Air France, Corsair, and French Bee fly from Saint Denis to Paris-Orly, covering a distance of 9,337 km (5,042 NM). The scheduled duration is a little longer at 12 hours and 5 minutes.

Corsair’s flight SS 633 also heads to France from Reunion. It lands in Marseille from Saint Denis after covering a distance of 8,781 km (4,741 NM). The A330neo’s scheduled flight duration of 11 hours and 20 minutes.

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Across the States

The next four longest domestic flights are all Hawaii bound. Hawaiian Airlines Flight HA 89 covers 8,199 km (4,427 NM) and takes 11 hours and 35 minutes to head to Honolulu from Boston. Meanwhile, the airline’s A330-200 performs HA 51 to the same spot from New York JFK, taking 11 hours and 25 minutes to cover 8,020 km (4,330 NM).

United Airlines UA 363 also flies to Honolulu from the East Coast. It takes 10 hours and 58 minutes and covers 7,986 km (4,312 NM) for the carrier’s 767-300 to land from Newark. The operator also flies to Hawaii’s Kahului via UA 42. The 767 covers 7,891 km (4,261) in 10 hours and 55 minutes from Newark.

Overall, the longest domestic flights are notably related to routes in countries that have distant overseas lands. When it comes to the longest domestic flight over contiguous land, Aeroflot SU 6282 and Nord Wind N4 566 fly from Vladivostok to Moscow Sheremetyevo, covering a distance of 6,423 km (3,468 NM). The scheduled flight time is 9 hours and 5 minutes, a duration far less than those at top of the list.

What are your thoughts about the longest domestic routes? What do you make of the list? Let us know what you think in the comment section.

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