Singapore Airlines Successfully Conducts The World’s Longest Flight!
Singapore Airlines has successfully carried out the world’s longest flight!
The airline’s Flight SQ22 departed at approximately 11:35 p.m. yesterday for New York with 150 passengers and 17 crew on board. The flight had a journey time of 19 hours.
This journey was made possible by the aircraft, an Airbus A350-900ULR, which has a twin-engine with a modified system that burns 25 percent less fuel. It can carry up to 161 passengers – 67 in business class and 94 in premium economy.
The flight can take up to 18 hours and 45 minutes but the pilots have reserve fuel in the aircraft to make it capable of flying more than 20 hours non-stop, in case of an emergency.
Two pilots, a special “wellness” menu and more than seven weeks’ worth of film and television entertainment accompanied the passengers on the 16,700-kilometre (10,400-mile) journey to the Big Apple.
The cabin has higher-than-normal ceilings, larger windows and lighting designed to reduce jet lag. This has been done to lessen the stresses that can accompany any passenger after spending almost a day on an airplane.
To promote healthy eating, the airline offered a special menu which included organic dishes.
Singapore Airlines originally flew the route for nine years using the four-engine A340-500 before abandoning it in 2013 because high oil prices made the service unprofitable.
Previously the record for the world’s longest flight was held by Qatar Airways Flight 921 from Auckland to Doha, which takes 17 hours 40 minutes. However, Singapore Airlines has now officially broken that record.