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World’s Longest Nonstop Flight Takes Off This Week, from and to Southeast Asia  

World’s Longest Nonstop Flight Takes Off This Week, from and to Southeast Asia   
The Singapore Airlines A350-900 Ultra Long Range aircraft © Singapore Airlines

 

Starting October 11, 2018, passengers on Singapore Airlines' newest plane, the Airbus A350-900 ULR -- for Ultra Long-Range -- will travel on a record-breaking, globe-spanning flight that will reconnect the two major metropolises.

The new flights will initially run three times a week from Singapore to Newark Liberty International Airport, with daily operations starting October 18 after a second Airbus A350-900 enters service. 

On September 22, the airline took delivery of Airbus' newest wide-body, the A350-900 ULR. It has 22 A350-900 planes in its fleet, with 45 more on order, including six more of the ULRs, CNN Travel reports.

Image: Bloomberg
Image: Bloomberg

 

The ULR will be able to fly a remarkable 11,160 miles, an increase of more than 1,800 miles over the standard A350. It means that Singapore Airlines will reclaim a travel crown: that of running the world's longest nonstop air route. 

But how will passengers comfortably fly -- or perhaps endure -- a flight that lasts the better part of a full day?

That's three hours longer than the Qantas Airlines 787 flight from Perth to London

"The A350 is a clean-sheet design that has been designed for those long-range flights," Florent Petteni, Airbus' aircraft interiors marketing director for the A350, tells CNN Travel. 

Business Class Bed. Image: Singapore Airlines
Business Class Bed. Image: Singapore Airlines

 

More Space

Forget economy class. The Airbus jet that will ply the route carries a maximum of 161 passengers, compared with 253 on the airline’s existing A350-900s, Bloomberg reports. That means more space, with 67 flat-bed seats in a 1-2-1 configuration for business class and 94 premium economy places in a mostly 2-4-2 arrangement at the rear.

The plane will also have high ceilings, sophisticated LED lighting, almost vertical sidewalls and a low noise level to reduce jet lag.

Lobster Thermidor can be ordered at world's longest flight. Image: Singapore Airlines
Lobster Thermidor can be ordered at world's longest flight. Image: Singapore Airlines

 

Beating Jet Lag

The airline’s ‘Wellness Set Menu’ offers prawn ceviche, organic chicken and zucchini pappardelle. A tie-up with Canyon Ranch offers “science-based recommendations and strategies for improved sleep, balanced meal choices and exercises that promote circulation.”

Larger fuel tank in the wing. Image: Singapore Airlines
Larger fuel tank in the wing. Image: Singapore Airlines

 

Wi-Fi

For the Internet-addicted traveler worried about being incommunicado for almost a whole day, the flight offers Wi-Fi, for a price. A business-class ticket gets 30 megabytes of data for free. An additional 20MB, just enough for an hour on Facebook, costs $6, with bigger packages offering up to 200MB for $28.

 

Full Tanks

Airbus rejigged the fuel system on a standard A350-900 and pumped 17 percent more jet kerosene into the tanks in the wings. The plane can now hold about 43,590 gallons of fuel.

 

 

 

Indah Gilang Pusparani

Indah is a researcher at Badan Perencanaan Pembangunan Penelitian dan Pengembangan Daerah Kota Cirebon (Regional Development Planning and Research Agency of Cirebon Municipality). She covers More international relations, tourism, and startups in Southeast Asia region and beyond. Indah graduated from MSc Development Administration and Planning from University College London, United Kingdom in 2015. She finished bachelor degree from International Relations from University of Indonesia in 2014, with two exchange programs in Political Science at National University of Singapore and New Media in Journalism at Ball State University, USA. She was awarded Diplomacy Award at Harvard World Model United Nations and named as Indonesian Gifted Researcher by Australian National University. She is Researcher at Regional Planning Board in Cirebon, West Java. She previously worked as Editor in Bening Communication, the Commonwealth Parliament Association UK, and diplomacy consulting firm Best Delegate LLC in USA. Less
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