Take off for the longest non-stop flight
The world's longest commercial flight has left Singapore for New York, beginning a journey expected to cover more than 15,000km in almost 19 hours.
Singapore Airlines is relaunching the service five years after it was cut because it had become too expensive.
A spokeswoman for Singapore Airlines said Flight SQ22 departed at approximately 15:35GMT with 150 passengers and 17 crew.
The flight from Changi Airport to Newark took off amid much fanfare.
The flight time is about 90 minutes longer than the previous longest non-stop service.
Qantas launched a 17-hour non-stop service from Perth to London earlier this year, while Qatar runs a 17.5-hour service between Auckland and Doha.
Singapore Airlines (SIA) said there was demand for customers for non-stop services which help cut travelling times compared with flights which have a stopover.
Ahead of the take-off, the airline told the BBC that business class seats for the flight were fully booked, and there were "a very limited number" of premium economy seats left.
The airline is not planning to offer any economy bookings on the route.
A business class ticket will entitle passengers to two meals, and the choice of when they are served, plus refreshments in between. They will also have a bed to sleep in.
Premium economy fares will get three meals at fixed times, with refreshments in between.
Do people want to fly for 19 hours?
(Score: 2, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Friday October 12 2018, @10:51AM
When "an MH370" is preferable to arriving at the destination.
(Score: 2) by Gaaark on Friday October 12 2018, @11:14AM (2 children)
If we're going for longest, I'll carry you on my back across Canada: you'll be travelling for days and days and days.
...
And you thought this would be a dirty sex comment.
--- Please remind me if I haven't been civil to you: I'm channeling MDC. ---Gaaark 2.0 ---
(Score: 2) by driverless on Saturday October 13 2018, @10:17AM (1 child)
Sheeit, Delta runs much longer flights than that. Of course most of the time is spent sitting on the tarmac waiting for the replacement parts to arrive, but still...
(Score: 2) by Gaaark on Saturday October 13 2018, @01:28PM
I'll lose your luggage and make you pee in pop bottles of it keeps me at #1!
:)
--- Please remind me if I haven't been civil to you: I'm channeling MDC. ---Gaaark 2.0 ---
(Score: 4, Insightful) by MostCynical on Friday October 12 2018, @11:15AM (4 children)
Eight sentences earlier..
so.. yes?
"I guess once you start doubting, there's no end to it." -Batou, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex
(Score: 2) by bzipitidoo on Friday October 12 2018, @12:14PM (1 child)
No, people would rather use teleportation. But since we don't have that technology, a skip jet that can go halfway around the world in 2 hours would be nice to have.
An 18+ hour flight sucks. That's a lot of sitting. And, at some point you're going to want to sleep, and sleeping in a chair is no fun if you're used to a bed. Not going to sleep as well. When you finally arrive, tired from lack of sleep, you're a lot of timezones away from where you started, with day and night swapped. You're going to be jet lagged to the max.
(Score: 2) by choose another one on Friday October 12 2018, @01:11PM
Not all of them, some want to arrive the other end without swapping body parts with other travellers (economy class seats are bad enough today).
[Singing] Take me apart, take me apart, What a way to roam And if you have to take me apart to get me there I'd rather stay at home.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by bob_super on Friday October 12 2018, @05:14PM (1 child)
Also
> Do people want to fly for 19 hours?
If you have to go over 5 hours, a non-stop flight pretty much always beats the alternative (unless the prices are insane).
There's a lot of value in boarding a plane only once and landing at destination. Having more than one 3-hr flight in a trip is really a pain (done that, and with young kids it's 20x worse).
(Score: 2) by richtopia on Saturday October 13 2018, @05:04PM
Also, each layover increases chances of delays and lost luggage.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday October 12 2018, @12:16PM (3 children)
Anyone know how long the takeoff roll was? I make a point to watch the seconds from brake release to lift off, in particular on long flights where the plane is very heavy with fuel. When it gets past about 45 seconds, it's starting to feel like the plane might run off the end of the runway...
In its favor, the link notes that the new model of Airbus has better cruise fuel economy than previous planes considered for this route. Thus less fuel load required and maybe a quicker lift off--unless the better fuel economy comes from engines that have less peak thrust for acceleration on the runway.
(Score: 2) by legont on Friday October 12 2018, @12:43PM (2 children)
Add sky high density altitude at Singapore.
"Wealth is the relentless enemy of understanding" - John Kenneth Galbraith.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday October 12 2018, @03:09PM (1 child)
Not terrible today, https://www.airport6.com/en/a/WSSS/ [airport6.com]
WSSS - Singapore International Airport
Malaysia / Johor / WSSS
Latitude : 1°21'33"N , Longitude : 103°59'21"E
Elevation : 22.0 feet MSL, Magnetic Variation : 0° East
WSSS Pressure Altitude : 28 feet (Latest 5 min ago)
WSSS Density Altitude : 1221 feet (Latest 5 min ago)
Compare to:
KDEN - Denver International Airport
United States / Colorado / KDEN
Latitude : 39°51'42"N , Longitude : 104°40'23"W
Elevation : 5433 feet MSL, Magnetic Variation : 8° East
KDEN Pressure Altitude : 5273 feet (Latest 15 min ago)
KDEN Density Altitude : 5125 feet (Latest 15 min ago)
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday October 13 2018, @02:29AM
Density Altitude rising now that it's daytime in Singapore, below is from about 10am local Singapore time:
WSSS - Singapore International Airport
Malaysia / Johor / WSSS
Latitude : 1°21'33"N , Longitude : 103°59'21"E
Elevation : 22.0 feet MSL, Magnetic Variation : 0° East
WSSS Pressure Altitude : -1 feet (Latest 22 min ago)
WSSS Density Altitude : 1430 feet (Latest 22 min ago)
I think you figured out why this flight leaves WSSS in the late evening, 11:30pm local time, by chance about when the earlier check was done.
(Score: 2) by legont on Friday October 12 2018, @12:41PM
Thai airways flight NY to Bangkok, while somewhat shorter, was definitely not 90 minutes shorter. I flew it multiple times and have a way-point on my GPS within 50 miles from the North Pole. It would not always take the North Pole way. Depending on the jet stream, it would often deviate significantly and go over Alaska as opposed to Russia's gulag.
Yes, I flew economy and it took over 18 hours.
"Wealth is the relentless enemy of understanding" - John Kenneth Galbraith.
(Score: 2) by choose another one on Friday October 12 2018, @01:05PM (1 child)
So the new service is no longer in distance, unless NY and Singapore have moved, but it's 90mins longer flight time than before... in order to be less expensive.
I'm sure it makes sense to someone, somewhere.
(Score: 2) by tizan on Friday October 12 2018, @04:18PM
Yes ...that is why the concorde or supersonic flights no longer exists...."cheaper and slower" beats "faster and more expensive"
(Score: 3, Informative) by tizan on Friday October 12 2018, @03:48PM (2 children)
over 36 hours and spending time in airports and hoping i do not miss connections if one flight is a bit delayed ...
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday October 12 2018, @04:41PM
Not to mention they always manage to throw a security check in or customs clearance or some other hassle
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday October 12 2018, @06:36PM
Yeah, a nonstop flight works out to be a shorter journey in total.
And sometimes there can be issues with visas. For example you're just transiting at Country A, so in theory you don't need a visa for Country A (or you just need a transit visa). But maybe due to delays etc, you might want/have to get out and stay at a hotel, which means you need a visa. But if you don't have one or can't get one then things might get significantly more unpleasant for you - e.g. immigration bullies detain you and keep asking you why you didn't get a visa etc...
You could still have this problem with the non-stop flight if stuff happens (and the plane has to land somewhere different) but having additional stops increases the odds of such stuff happening.
(Score: 2, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Friday October 12 2018, @04:08PM (2 children)
If not taking a plane, you'd have to drive across the world, and that means being raped repeatedly by cops all over the world. Some will try to shoot you and take your car and money. Others will harass you for being a foreigner. And you will be crashed into for insurance scam. Chances are, you will fall in love with someone during your journey and settle there becoming a farmer.
Sitting in a plane for 19 hours and being raped only a couple times beats the alternative.
(Score: 4, Funny) by DeathMonkey on Friday October 12 2018, @05:02PM
If not taking a plane, you'd have to drive across the world, and that means being raped repeatedly by cops all over the world. Some will try to shoot you and take your car and money. Others will harass you for being a foreigner. And you will be crashed into for insurance scam. Chances are, you will fall in love with someone during your journey and settle there becoming a farmer.
And that's all within the Newark city limits!
(Score: 2) by Gaaark on Saturday October 13 2018, @01:35PM
And then there's the drowning.
That always sucks.
--- Please remind me if I haven't been civil to you: I'm channeling MDC. ---Gaaark 2.0 ---