If current schedule filings are to be believed, SkyTeam member Xiamen Air will soon be operating the world’s longest duration flight. However, I suspect there’s more to this story…
In this post:
Xiamen Air’s 19hr20min New York to Fuzhou flight
Xiamen Air currently operates a twice weekly flight between New York (JFK) and Fuzhou (FOC) with a Boeing 787-9. This route has most recently been operating since 2024, and prior to that, the flight operated from 2017 until 2020.
As it currently stands, the flight from Fuzhou to New York is blocked at 14hr55min, while the flight from New York to Fuzhou is blocked at 16hr25min. At 7,770 miles, that’s roughly what you’d expect the block time to be, especially with this flight avoiding Russian airspace.
But here’s where it gets interesting — as of the start of the IATA winter season (in late October), the block time for the New York to Fuzhou flight increases drastically, to a staggering 19hr20min. The flight still shows as operating nonstop.
Based on the published schedule and block times, that makes this the longest duration nonstop flight in the world, beating out Singapore Airlines’ Newark (EWR) to Singapore (SIN) flight, which is blocked at 19hr10min.
Even though the New York to Fuzhou route doesn’t even rank in the top 20 longest distance flights in the world, it’s now scheduled to be the longest block time nonstop flight.
What’s actually going on with this Xiamen Air flight?
Many media outlets are reporting this New York to Fuzhou 19hr20min nonstop flight without much skepticism. And while it is true that the flight is currently filed that way, I can’t imagine that’s what’s actually going on here, because it just doesn’t make sense.
Yes, the jet stream is typically stronger in winter, making flights either faster or slower, depending on the direction they’re moving. But that doesn’t explain a three hour increase in the block time from one day to the next.
So I would guess what’s going on here is a combination of two factors. First, it seems likely that Xiamen Air is adding a refueling stop somewhere along the way, and just hasn’t updated its schedule correctly to reflect that.
That would make perfect sense. The flight is only operated twice per week, and I imagine with headwinds, the flight gets to the point where it’s potentially weight restricted pretty frequently. So it’s logical to add a fuel stop so that the airline can carry as much cargo and as many passengers as possible.
Second, I suspect the airline is adding some padding due to this flight’s horrible operation reliability. It’s an average of somewhere around an hour late, due to a combination of the long flight time plus departing late. So it makes sense to add some breathing room, especially for those passengers who may be connecting.
I could be wrong, but I would be surprised if there’s not a technical stop added here, because this just doesn’t otherwise make much sense.
Bottom line
Based on the schedule that Xiamen Air has currently filed, it would appear that the airline will soon operate the world’s longest nonstop flight in terms of duration, at 19hr20min, beating the world’s existing longest flight by 10 minutes.
While that is indeed what the schedule shows, I suspect there’s more to this story. Winds are strong in winter, and my guess is that the airline is adding a refueling stop along the way, so that it doesn’t have to materially weight restrict this flight. We’ll find out soon enough, but that’s what my money is on.
What do you make of this Xiamen Air flight?
JFK-SIN is 3mi (5km) longer than EWR-SIN.
The refueling stop is at Urumqi URC.
It seems like we're in a second Cold War where everybody is avoiding Russia the same way everybody was avoiding the Soviet Union. Fortunately with the advent of efficient long range airliners, a stop in Anchorage is no longer necessary. Unfortunately, you could say that Russian aggression predates the invasion of Ukraine in 2022 where MH 17 was shot down in a similar fashion to KE007.
@Mike
Are you on drugs or just a bigot ?
MH 17 was shot down by Ukrainian terrorists in Chechnya .
KE 007 was well off course and mistaken for a 707 on a US reconnaissance mission.
Mainland Chinese airline reviews are extremely hard to find since 2022, and for good reason. Gone are the days when airlines like Hainan and Xiamen were commended for their product. Instead, Mainland airlines have largely disappeared from the Western public’s radar, and their Taiwanese counterparts — EVA and Starlux in particular — have taken their place. I don’t want to bring politics here, but have Mainland Chinese airlines become so much worse postpandemic?
Not necessarily – you'll generally continue to see reviews of Chinese carriers over YouTube. I'd say that generally most people have just had Chinese visas expire over COVID-19, and not much incentive to renew them. There's generally a huge product investment push for airlines such as China Southern, whereas former frontrunners such as Hainan and Xiamen are known for doing okay.
Fair point! So YouTube vlogs have almost completely replaced the Western blogosphere, as far as Mainland Chinese product reviews are concerned. Searching The Points Guy, for example, there’s pretty much nothing by way of Mainland reviews after COVID hit in 2020. It’s probably no coincidence that Starlux started around this time, and has quickly gotten rave reviewsfrom the Western world.
Or more likely it is just mis-filed and will be corrected at some point.
Suggestions of cargo interlining in ANC are not realistic as most cargo goes the other way, not TO China!
MF850 has different schedules for NS and NW seasons:
NS: JFK-FOC
NW: JFK-HGH-FOC
The extra 3 hours in that 19 hours are at HGH
My money is on a refueling stop in Anchorage. There’s a lot of cargo that can be swapped with UPS and FedEx with their hub up there, in addition to refueling. Given Xiamen is a big technology manufacturing hub for Apple and others, there will no doubt be a lot of cargo moving back and forth
Where would they refuel, Fairbanks?
Out of curiosity, will flight times actually eventually start getting shorter at some point?
Newer generation aircraft are cruising faster by a little bit. I wonder if someone with more knowledge than me knows if there's been a meaningful difference in how fast aircraft are to the older generations from the 20th century. And I know the supersonic jets were/might become a thing.
Or is there too much tradeoff for speed regarding other factors?
Flight times will get shorter if you pay extra. Delta is actually developing a special time dilation field for those in the main cabin to ensure that if they don't get to their destination an hour after those in premium cabins, it will at least feel like it.
19 hours on a plane....
I'll be right back... checking to see if the temperature in hell is freezing .
I don't think they are adding a refueling stop ... Chinese airlines sometimes schedule pad to an insane degree. Didn't you recently write an article about China Eastern's insanely padded flight from Shanghai to Cairo?
These ultra long haul flights are overrated.Often times I prefer to fly 10 hours and connect to stretch my legs, take a shower and have a snack.
I'm guessing QFs upcoming Project Sunrise is a no-go for you then...
P.s. you must be Irish! :D