Up In The Air: The World’s Longest Direct Flights and How To Master Them

Emirates has set a new benchmark for long haul flights, with its recent announcement of a direct route between Dubai and Panama, lasting an exhausting 17 hours and 35 minutes. The inaugural flight, which is due to take-off on February 1st, 2016, will out-fly the current longest non-stop flight, which is operated by Qantas Airways from Dallas to Sydney, and lasts just under 17 hours. In light of this sky-high news, we compiled a list of the longest non-stop flights from Asia Pacific and Europe and shared tips on how to master the long hours above the clouds.

Flying passengers across the globe to remote locations in the most convenient way possible takes time. While the longest flight worldwide is currently operated by Qantas, the American Airlines route connecting Hong Kong to Dallas is the longest flight originating in Hong Kong, with a duration of 15 hours and 20 minutes.

British Airways operates the longest non-stop flight for British travellers, with the London to Buenos Aires route taking 13 hours and 45 minutes. The lengthy Rome to Buenos Aires route is operated by the Italian carrier Alitalia, at a similar duration of 13 hours and 55 minutes. German company Lufthansa covers the 11510 kilometres (approx) from Frankfurt to Buenos Aires in 14 hours.

*Longest non-stop flights available in terms of time.

For Hong Kongers, international travel more often than not equates to a long-haul flight. Fortunately, the constant development of aircraft technology means far flung destinations will be accessible to travellers all over the world. Direct flights are often the most convenient, however, with long haul travel comes lengthy periods above the clouds. To help travellers survive flights that can last almost a waking day, we collected a list of helpful tips and hacks to beat the altitude blues.



Pick your time of travel wisely: If you’re not good at sleeping on planes, book a day flight. This way, you can go to sleep when you arrive and avoid a sleepless night.

Pick your seat in advance: Check-in on time to get your preferred seat. Most online check-ins open 24 hours prior to the flight, so set a reminder to do so as soon as possible. On a short-haul flight it might not matter too much where you sit but on a long-haul flight it can get annoying as you don’t want to be stuck in the middle or have an aisle seat close to the toilet which might prevent a restful sleep.

Pack your travel essentials: Prepare your flying outfit before going on a long-haul flight. It should be comfortable. Use a layering tactic for your clothes so you can remove or put on extra pieces of clothes at will, depending on the temperature in the cabin. Bring everything you need to create a cocoon: eye mask, earplugs/noise cancelling headphones, scarf, inflatable pillow. It is also handy to have a toothbrush, comb and deodorant with you to freshen up during or after the flight.

Meet new people: Have we met yet? Strike up a conversation with your neighbour, it’s one of the fastest way to pass the time.

Find ways to kill time while on board: Bring your own entertainment to avoid being limited to the inflight movie selection. Have your favorite music with you, bring a book or your own films or TV series, and anything else you enjoy doing in your free time – this way time will pass by much faster.

Use the technology available at your hands: Take advantage of your phone and its apps: download an airsleep app on your phone (scientifically calibrated soundtrack for sleeping on planes), use the JetLag genie app to create your personalized schedule of sleeping and napping depending on your flight and destination so that your body clock is already adjusted when you land.



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