The longest non-stop flight by plane

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Earlier this week, Singapore Airlines was in the news with an inaugural flight from Singapore to New York. It was a non-stop flight of 19 hours, making it the longest non-stop flight with an airliner.

A CNN Travel reporter made this first trip and covered it in detail with photos, tweets and videos. You can read and view that on their website.

Amsterdam–Bangkok

I don't want to think about it, such a flight of 19 hours locked up in a tube, the possible luxury of business class or economy comfort class does not detract from that. I think the flight of about 11 hours from Amsterdam to Bangkok or vice versa is long enough. Of course, flying direct has its advantages, but I didn't mind those flights in the eighties and nineties, where sometimes two or even three stopovers were made. At one of those intermediate landings, refueling had to be done and then the passengers had to leave the aircraft. Time to stretch your legs and smoke a cigar.

KLM

Those direct flights usually went with KLM. I have never done (cheap) flying with transfers somewhere in the Middle East or anywhere else, because that seemed too much hassle with connections, waiting times and so on. In general, time was not an issue for me. When I was traveling I took the time I needed to relax and fulfill my business appointments. A colleague from that time regularly traveled to Japan, arriving in the morning and sitting at the conference table in the afternoon, so that he could even fly back to the Netherlands the next day. Busy, busy, busy, right? Well, didn't see me. The day of arrival after a long journey I did nothing but rest and enjoy myself.

Long flights

I have been to Australia and New Zealand a number of times and that is a very long journey from the Netherlands. I never went directly, but took a stopover in Bangkok myself and then continued a day later. I then made an “important appointment” in Bangkok for my superiors, which was nothing more than an evening of fun in Patpong. I couldn't declare all the costs of that stopover, then you will understand.

SQ22

I digress, so back to the SQ22 from Singapore to New York (Newark to be exact). Frankly, along with many others, I wonder what possesses a company like Singapore Airlines to schedule such a long flight. Previous attempts for the same flight were abandoned in 2013 because interest was minimal.

In response to a post on Facebook about this flight, someone said that flying for 19 hours in a pressurized cabin entails the necessary medical risks. Such a long journey requires a lot of exercise, because thrombosis and dehydration are lurking.

In another response, someone wondered what Singapore Airlines has in mind with that flight. Outrun the competition? According to him, it looks more like schoolboy behavior: “I can piss further and higher than you!”