Singapore Airlines (SIA) has outlined plans to launch the world’s longest commercial belly flight from Singapore Changi Airport to New York’s Newark Liberty International Airport.
From October this year, the carrier will operate a new Airbus A350-900ULR (ultra-long-range) aircraft on the daily service. The inaugural flight will take off on 11 October 2018, covering a distance of approximately 9,000 nautical miles (16,700km) over a flight time of up to 18 hours 45 minutes.
The return flight will depart Newark Liberty on 12 October, with a similar flight time. SIA will continue to operate its daily service between Singapore and New York, via Frankfurt.
Changi Airport Group has welcomed the announcement by SIA and managing director of air hub development, Lim Ching Kiat said: “With the advent of ultra-long range aircraft, non-stop long haul routes are now more efficient and viable. The new SIA New York service is Southeast Asia’s only non-stop connection to the North American east coast.”
Four airlines currently connect Singapore to six US cities – Honolulu, Houston, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle and New York City. With the new non-stop services, there will be 72 weekly belly services between Changi Airport and the US.
(Photo courtesy of SIA)
