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Emirates to claim title for world’s longest flight with nonstop service to Auckland

written by australianaviation.com.au | January 29, 2016

A supplied image of an Emirates Boeing 777-200LR. (Emirates)
An Emirates 777-200LR. (Emirates)

Emirates will operate the world’s longest passenger flight from March when it begins nonstop service to Auckland from its Dubai hub with a Boeing 777-200LR.

The Dubai-Auckland route measures 7,668 nautical miles, according to the Great Circle Mapper, eclipsing Qantas’s Airbus A380 route between Sydney and Dallas/Fort Worth at 7,454nm which currently holds the record as the longest nonstop passenger flight.

Emirates Airline and Group chairman and chief executive His Highness Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum said having nonstop flights to NZ was something the airline had been considering for a while.

“Operating a non-stop service between Dubai and Auckland has been in our sights for some time, dependent on availability of suitable aircraft as we rapidly expand our global network of destinations, and frequency of flights and capacity on existing routes. We are particularly delighted that we can now bring this exciting plan to fruition,” Al Maktoum said in a statement on Thursday (Dubai time).

The new Dubai-Auckland flights, which take off from March 1, was expected to cut travel times to NZ by about three hours, Emirates said.

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Currently, Emirates has three flights a day to Auckland via Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney with Airbus A380s, as well as a daily flight between Christchurch and Sydney with a Boeing 777-300ER.

Emirates’ NZ services are operated in cooperation with global alliance partner Qantas. Further, passengers will be able to connect onto Jetstar-operated domestic flights from Auckland.

Al Maktoum said offering nonstop flights to Auckland would be a “boon to many business people, tourists, expatriate New Zealanders and other travellers in Europe, parts of Africa and the Middle East”.

“Tourists, in particular, will now have more options – travelling to Auckland with a stopover in Australia on one of our three daily A380s, flying nonstop direct into Auckland, or flying to the South Island on our daily Christchurch service,” Al Maktoum said.

“New Zealand currently hosts about three million tourists a year and we want to do our part to cater for that flow and grow that figure above current expectations.

“Auckland as the major gateway is now a thriving and attractive city of 1.5 million and, together with tourism and business traffic, we are sure that it will easily sustain the introduction of the extra flight.”

Emirates is the first of the Middle East carriers to launch nonstop flights to NZ. However Qatar Airways may not be far behind, with Bloomberg reporting on January 22 the oneworld alliance member was also planning to operate nonstop to Auckland from its Doha hub.

Etihad serves NZ through its alliance with Virgin Australia.

Emirates new Auckland flights
  
Dubai-Auckland
Auckland-Dubai
EK448
EK449
Dep 1005 – Arr 1100+1 Dep 2130 – Arr 0545+1
Current longest nonstop passenger flights by distance (nautical miles)

1. Sydney-Dallas/Fort Worth (7,454nm) – operated by Qantas with Airbus A380
2. Atlanta-Johannesburg (7,333nm) – operated by Delta with Boeing 777-200LR
3. Abu Dhabi-Los Angeles (7,291nm) – operated by Etihad with Boeing 777-200LR
4. Dubai-Los Angeles (7,246nm) – operated by Emirates with Airbus A380
5. Jeddah-Los Angeles (7,240nm) – operated by Saudia with Boeing 777-300ER

Confirmed future routes

1. Singapore-New York(Newark) (8,285nm) – to be operated by Singapore Airlines with Airbus A350-900ULR. From 2018. (Airport choice not confirmed)
2. Dubai-Auckland (7,668nm) – to be operated by Emirates with Boeing 777-200LR. Starts March 1
3. Singapore-Los Angeles (7,621nm) – to be operated by Singapore Airlines with Airbus A350-900ULR. From 2018
4. Dubai-Panama City (7,463nm) – to be operated by Emirates with Boeing 777-200LR. Starts March 31

Speculated future routes

1. Sydney-New York(JFK) (8,646nm) – Qantas
2. Doha-Auckland (7,848nm) – Qatar Airways
3. Perth-London Heathrow (7,829nm) – Qantas
4. Melbourne-Dallas/Fort Worth (7,814nm) – Qantas
5. Doha-Santiago (7,791nm) – Qatar Airways

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Comments (15)

  • Dave

    says:

    His Highness Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum to claim title for world’s longest CEO name!

  • SEENIT

    says:

    All the current and future ultra long route above, only Singapore Airlines use the new gen “super efficient” twin. All others can be done with current models. That’s interesting.

  • Marc

    says:

    All I can say to the Kiwis:
    Hong Kong (Air NZ) & Singapore is a better transit centre than Dubai

  • TrashHauler

    says:

    Interestingly I just roughly measured the distance between Perth and Rome. It’s about 7200nm which makes you wonder whether Qantas has ever considered this with their current fleet (both the 747 and 380 fly over 7400nm to get to Dallas. Presumably it could be done?

  • Aden O'keefe-Buckton

    says:

    Great! so there will be no need for Emirates BNE-AKL, MEL-AKL or SYD-AKL routes any more!

  • Aden O'keefe-Buckton

    says:

    Ha ha ha, completely agree with Dave!

  • -

    says:

    Poor Crew! Long working hours with little rest!

  • Jay M

    says:

    Air India Has a Flight from New Delhi to San Francisco Non Stop
    Distance 7716 Miles

  • Paul Brisbane

    says:

    I agree Marc, to be avoided at all costs..
    I fly to Perth every 3 weeks so going on to Europe would be great. I used to catch the SAA 747 from Jo’burg/Mauritius/Perth/Sydney great flight with incredible in flight service.

  • Tyron

    says:

    Good move Emirates, long time coming. Really surprised Etihad and Air NZ haven’t pioneered a non-stop service already…

  • As Australian airlines have the rights to fly beyond New Zealand I wonder if Qantas will code share on the AKL/DBX sector (& beyond) as part of their global alliance with Emirates?
    Peter

  • boleropilot

    says:

    Wow – longer flights – yippee – NOT! As an unseasoned traveller, I found the flight from Brisbane to Singapore taxing – when we go back, I’d like a little injection after I get settled that will pop me off to sleep and last long enough to wear off just as we are landing – that’s MY idea of a comfortable flight!!!!!

  • Luke

    says:

    Poor crew

  • Shabeer Haroun

    says:

    This is like a sixteen hour flight. Lots of stress on the flight crew and extreme jet lag for passengers. Wonder what it will feel like in the economy class (DVT).

  • Vannus

    says:

    Would never have any occasion to have to be on this flight, thank goodness!
    Ultra long flights are just sooooooo boring.

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