World’s longest passenger flight plans to keep away from Russian skies

Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd. plans to reroute its New York-Hong Kong service to keep away from Russian airspace, in what could be the world’s longest industrial passenger flight by distance.

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The airline plans to fly from John F. Kennedy International Airport over the Atlantic Ocean, the U.Ok., southern Europe and central Asia, in response to a memo to Cathay flight employees seen by Bloomberg News. The distance of 16,618 kilometers (10,326 miles) would surpass Singapore Airlines Ltd.’s New York service, which takes about 17-and-a-half hours to cowl 15,349 kilometers, FlightRadar24 knowledge present. The Cathay new flight will take about 17 hours.

A spokeswoman for Cathay mentioned Airbus SE’s A350-1000 is able to working the route, which might usually fly over the Arctic and thru Russian airspace. Many Asian airways are avoiding Russia because of the battle in Ukraine.

“We are always running contingency routings for potential events or scenarios,” the spokeswoman mentioned. “The Transatlantic option relies on the facilitation of strong seasonal tailwinds at this time of the year in order for the flight time to be between 16 and 17 hours, thereby making it more favorable than the Transpacific route.”

The airline mentioned it’s monitoring tailwinds daily, and that their advantages are diminishing. Jet streams are typically stronger within the winter months.

Cathay is in search of overflight permits to function the service, which it mentioned was regular for a brand new route. Before the pandemic, which has severely decreased its schedule, the provider operated as much as three round-trips between Hong Kong and JFK each day.

Cathay’s most up-to-date New York-Hong Kong flight stopped in Los Angeles earlier than persevering with over the Pacific and into the Asian monetary hub with out coming into Russian airspace. The new, prolonged route would take away the necessity for a stopover, making it cheaper and aggressive.

Several airways have plotted routes to keep away from Russia, principally between Asia and Europe. Japan Airlines Co Ltd rerouted its service from Tokyo’s Haneda airport to London’s Heathrow by way of Alaska and Canada moderately than flying over Siberia. That added four-and-a-half hours to the 11-hour 55-minute journey.

Such flight modifications are prone to solely be short-term given the prices carriers face from excessive oil costs, in addition to uncertainty over the accessibility of Russian airspace.

Qantas Airways Ltd.’s 20-hour journeys connecting Sydney with London and New York utilizing an ultra-long vary Airbus widebody jet are nonetheless being deliberate after the pandemic delayed their launch. The airline did a take a look at of the so-called Project Sunrise service in 2019, flying New York to Sydney with 40 passengers.

Air New Zealand Ltd. final week unveiled a brand new ultra-long service from Auckland to New York JFK, whereas Qantas introduced a Melbourne-Dallas route on Monday, each of that are as a result of begin later this 12 months. Qatar Airways QCSC and Emirates Airline flights to Auckland have been among the many world’s longest till they have been suspended as a result of Covid-19.