World's Longest Non-Stop Flight Returns To N.J. Airport

The world’s longest non-stop commercial flight is returning to New Jersey.

On Wednesday, Singapore Airlines announced that it will be reinstating a 19-hour long flight between Changi International Airport and Newark Liberty International in 2018, when its new fleet of Airbus A350 planes is delivered.

Singapore Airlines operated non-stop flights between Singapore and New York until 2013, when the A340-500s that were used for the services were retired, according to a release.

Since then, the longest non-stop scheduled airline flight was the 17-hour Qantas Flight 8 (QF8) from Dallas/Fort Worth to Sydney, Australia, until Emirates announced in August that it was creating a 17-hour and 35-minute flight between Dubai and Panama City that is slated to begin on Feb. 1, 2016.

Singapore Airlines will also be reinstating an international flight between Singapore and Los Angeles, a release stated.

The carrier currently has 63 A350-900s on order, and the new agreement with Airbus will see seven of these upgraded to orders for the A350-900ULR, which will have a range of up to 8,700 nm, company officials stated.

In addition, the airline also has 20 purchase options, four of which will be converted into A350-900 orders, the company stated.

“Our customers have been asking us to re-start non-stop Singapore-US flights, and we are pleased that Airbus was able to offer the right aircraft to do so in a commercially viable manner,” Singapore Airlines CEO Goh Choon Phong stated.

File photo of an Airbus A380-800 courtesy of Singapore Airlines