In
aviation
Aviation includes the activities surrounding mechanical flight and the aircraft industry. ''Aircraft'' includes fixed-wing and rotary-wing types, morphable wings, wing-less lifting bodies, as well as lighter-than-air craft such as hot air ...
, the flight length refers to the distance of a flight. Commercial flights are often categorized into long-, medium- or short-haul by
commercial airline
An airline is a company that provides air transport services for traveling passengers and freight. Airlines use aircraft to supply these services and may form partnerships or alliances with other airlines for codeshare agreements, in which ...
s based on flight length, although there is no international standard definition and many airlines use air time or geographic boundaries instead.
Route category lengths tend to define short-haul routes as being shorter than , long-haul as being longer than , and medium-haul as being in-between.
The related term flight duration is defined as to the amount of time a single
flight
Flight or flying is the process by which an object moves through a space without contacting any planetary surface, either within an atmosphere (i.e. air flight or aviation) or through the vacuum of outer space (i.e. spaceflight). This can be a ...
(segment) is scheduled to take from pushing back at the departure gate to arriving at its destination gate. It is formally defined by
ICAO (International Civil Aviation Organization) as "The total time from the moment an aeroplane first moves for the purpose of taking off until the moment it finally comes to rest at the end of the flight" also referred to colloquially as "chocks to chocks" time.
Flight duration is formally measured in hours & minutes as it is irrespective of geographic distance traveled. A route's flight duration can be affected by many things such as anticipated routings, weather, traffic, or taxiing times. Scheduled durations for the same route and airline can also vary on what aircraft is used.
A flight's duration can also be described using the aviation term of "Flight Haul Type",
such as "Short Haul" or "Long Haul" that have multiple different definitions depending on originating sources. See the below table for some more prominent examples:
Route category definitions
Flight Haul Type terms are often used to describe flight length by aviation entities such as airlines, airports, and government authorities. The definitions vary as they are subjective for that entities' purposes and provide a specific message to their customers how they view a flight as being long or short. Some examples include:
Asia & Australia
*
Hong Kong International Airport
Hong Kong International Airport is Hong Kong's main airport, built on reclaimed land on the island of Chek Lap Kok, Hong Kong. The airport is also referred to as Chek Lap Kok International Airport or ''Chek Lap Kok Airport'', to distinguish ...
considers destinations in North and South Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Southwest Pacific and the Indian Subcontinent long-haul and all others are short-haul.
*
Japan Air Lines
, also known as JAL (''Jaru'') or , is an international airline and Japan's flag carrier and largest airline as of 2021 and 2022, headquartered in Shinagawa, Tokyo. Its main hubs are Tokyo's Narita International Airport and Haneda Airport, as ...
defines routes to Europe and North America as long-haul and all other flights as short-haul.
*
Qatar Airways
Qatar Airways Company Q.C.S.C. ( ar, القطرية, ''al-Qaṭariya''), operating as Qatar Airways, is the state-owned flag carrier airline of Qatar. Headquartered in the Qatar Airways Tower in Doha, the airline operates a hub-and-spoke netw ...
defines all flights from Qatar to the Americas, Australia, and New Zealand as Ultra-long-haul, and all other flights as medium or long-haul.
*
Virgin Australia
Virgin Australia, the trading name of Virgin Australia Airlines Pty Ltd, is an Australian-based airline. It is the largest airline by fleet size to use the Virgin Group, Virgin brand. It commenced services on 31 August 2000 as ''Virgin Blue ...
defines domestic flights as within Australia, short-haul as those to South East Asia/Pacific and long-haul as those to Abu Dhabi or Los Angeles.
Europe
* The
European Union
The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...
defines any passenger flight between city pairs separated by a great circle distance less than 1,500km to be short-haul, between 1,500 and 3,500km as medium-haul, and all flights greater than 3,500km to be long-haul routes.
*
Eurocontrol
The European Organisation for the Safety of Air Navigation, commonly known as Eurocontrol (stylised ''EUROCONTROL''), is an international organisation working to achieve safe and seamless air traffic management across Europe. Founded in 1960, Eur ...
defines "very short-haul" flights as being less than 500km, short-haul flights being between 500 to 1,500 km, medium-haul flights being between , and long-haul flights as longer than that.
* The
Association of European Airlines
The Association of European Airlines (AEA) was a trade body that brought together 22 major airlines, and was the voice of the European airline industry for over 60 years. It shut down in the end of 2016.
AEA worked in partnership with the insti ...
defined Long-haul as flights to Americas, sub-Saharan Africa, Asia, Australasia and medium-haul as flights to North Africa and Middle East.
* The now defunct airline
Air Berlin
Air Berlin PLC & Co. Luftverkehrs KG (), branded as airberlin or airberlin.com was a major German airline. At its peak, it was Germany's second-largest airline, as well as Europe's tenth-largest airline in terms of passengers carried. It was h ...
defined short- and medium-haul as flights to Europe/North Africa and long-haul as those to the rest of the world.
*
Air France
Air France (; formally ''Société Air France, S.A.''), stylised as AIRFRANCE, is the flag carrier of France headquartered in Tremblay-en-France. It is a subsidiary of the Air France–KLM Group and a founding member of the SkyTeam global air ...
defines short-haul as domestic, medium-haul as within Europe/North Africa and long haul as the rest of the world.
North America
*
American Airlines
American Airlines is a major airlines of the United States, major US-based airline headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas, within the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. It is the Largest airlines in the world, largest airline in the world when measured ...
defines short-/medium-haul flights as being less than and long-haul as either being more than or being the New York–Los Angeles and New York–San Francisco routes.
*
United Airlines
United Airlines, Inc. (commonly referred to as United), is a major American airline headquartered at the Willis Tower in Chicago, Illinois. defines short-haul flights as being less than and long-haul flights as being greater than .
Aircraft category definitions
Flight Haul Type terms are sometimes used when referring to commercial aircraft. Some commercial carriers choose to refer to their aircraft using flight haul type terms, for example:
*
Delta Air Lines
Delta Air Lines, Inc., typically referred to as Delta, is one of the major airlines of the United States and a legacy carrier. One of the List of airlines by foundation date, world's oldest airlines in operation, Delta is headquartered in Atla ...
refers to its
Boeing 717
The Boeing 717 is an American five-abreast single-aisle airliner produced by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. The twin-engine airliner was developed for the 100-seat market and originally marketed by McDonnell Douglas as the MD-95. It was a shor ...
,
MD-88
The McDonnell Douglas MD-80 is a series of five-abreast single-aisle airliners developed by McDonnell Douglas. It was produced by the developer company until August 1997 and then by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. The MD-80 was the second gene ...
and
MD-90
The McDonnell Douglas (later Boeing) MD-90 is an American five-abreast single-aisle airliner developed by McDonnell Douglas from its successful model MD-80. The airliner was produced by the developer company until 1997 and then by Boeing Com ...
as short-haul domestic aircraft;
Boeing 757
The Boeing 757 is an American narrow-body airliner designed and built by Boeing Commercial Airplanes.
The then-named 7N7, a twinjet successor for the 727 (a trijet), received its first orders in August 1978.
The prototype completed its mai ...
,
Boeing 737
The Boeing 737 is a narrow-body aircraft produced by Boeing at its Renton Factory in Washington.
Developed to supplement the Boeing 727 on short and thin routes, the twinjet retains the 707 fuselage width and six abreast seating with two un ...
,
Airbus A319
The Airbus A319 is a member of the Airbus A320 family of short- to medium-range, Narrow-body aircraft, narrow-body, commercial passenger Twinjet, twin-engine jet airliners manufactured by Airbus. The A319 carries 124 to 156 passengers and has a ...
and
A321
The Airbus A321 is a member of the Airbus A320 family of short to medium range, narrow-body, commercial passenger twin engine jet airliners; it carries 185 to 236 passengers. It has a stretched fuselage which was the first derivative of the ba ...
as long-haul domestic; and its transoceanic
Boeing 757
The Boeing 757 is an American narrow-body airliner designed and built by Boeing Commercial Airplanes.
The then-named 7N7, a twinjet successor for the 727 (a trijet), received its first orders in August 1978.
The prototype completed its mai ...
,
767,
777
777 may refer to:
* 777 (number), a number
* AD 777, a year of the Julian calendar
* 777 BC, a year in the 8th century BC
* Boeing 777, a commercial jet airliner
:* Boeing 777X, the newer generation of the Boeing 777.
Art and entertainment Alb ...
and
Airbus A330
The Airbus A330 is a wide-body aircraft developed and produced by Airbus.
Airbus conceived several derivatives of the A300, its first airliner in the mid-1970s. Then the company began development on the A330 twinjet in parallel with the A340 ...
as long-haul.
*
Lufthansa
Deutsche Lufthansa AG (), commonly shortened to Lufthansa, is the flag carrier of Germany. When combined with its subsidiaries, it is the second- largest airline in Europe in terms of passengers carried. Lufthansa is one of the five founding m ...
classifies its
fleet
Fleet may refer to:
Vehicles
*Fishing fleet
*Naval fleet
*Fleet vehicles, a pool of motor vehicles
*Fleet Aircraft, the aircraft manufacturing company
Places
Canada
*Fleet, Alberta, Canada, a hamlet
England
* The Fleet Lagoon, at Chesil Beach, ...
as: long-haul for
wide-body aircraft
A wide-body aircraft, also known as a twin-aisle aircraft, is an airliner with a fuselage wide enough to accommodate two passenger aisles with seven or more seats abreast. The typical fuselage diameter is . In the typical wide-body economy cabin ...
such as the
Airbus A330
The Airbus A330 is a wide-body aircraft developed and produced by Airbus.
Airbus conceived several derivatives of the A300, its first airliner in the mid-1970s. Then the company began development on the A330 twinjet in parallel with the A340 ...
/
Airbus A340
The Airbus A340 is a long-range, wide-body passenger airliner that was developed and produced by Airbus.
In the mid-1970s, Airbus conceived several derivatives of the A300, its first airliner, and developed the A340 quadjet in parallel with ...
,
Airbus A350
The Airbus A350 is a long-range, wide-body twin-engine jet airliner developed and produced by Airbus.
The first A350 design proposed by Airbus in 2004, in response to the Boeing 787 Dreamliner, would have been a development of the A330 wi ...
,
Airbus A380
The Airbus A380 is a large wide-body airliner that was developed and produced by Airbus. It is the world's largest passenger airliner and only full-length double-deck jet airliner.
Airbus studies started in 1988, and the project was annou ...
, and
Boeing 747
The Boeing 747 is a large, long-range wide-body airliner designed and manufactured by Boeing Commercial Airplanes in the United States between 1968 and 2022.
After introducing the 707 in October 1958, Pan Am wanted a jet times its size, t ...
; medium-haul for
narrow-body aircraft
A narrow-body aircraft or single-aisle aircraft is an airliner arranged along a single aisle, permitting up to 6-abreast seating in a cabin less than in width.
In contrast, a wide-body aircraft is a larger airliner usually configured with mult ...
like the
Airbus A320
The Airbus A320 family is a series of Narrow-body aircraft, narrow-body airliners developed and produced by Airbus.
The A320 was launched in March 1984, Maiden flight, first flew on 22 February 1987, and was introduced in April 1988 by Air F ...
and
737 737 most commonly refers to:
* Boeing 737, an American narrow-body passenger airplane
** Boeing 737 Classic
** Boeing 737 MAX
** Boeing 737 Next Generation
* AD 737, a year in the common era
* 737 BC, a year
* 737 (number), a number
737 may als ...
families; and short-haul for
regional jets
A regional jet (RJ) is a jet-powered regional airliner with fewer than 100 seats. The first one was the Sud-Aviation Caravelle in 1959, followed by the widespread Yakovlev Yak-40, Fokker F-28, and BAe 146. The 1990s saw the emergence of th ...
like the
Embraer E-Jet
The Embraer E-Jet family is a series of four-abreast narrow-body short- to medium-range twin-engine jet airliners designed and produced by the Brazilian aerospace manufacturer Embraer.
The E-Jet was designed as a complement to the preceding E ...
s and the
Bombardier CRJ-900
The Bombardier CRJ700, CRJ900, and CRJ1000 are a family of regional jet airliners that were designed and manufactured by Canadian transportation conglomerate Bombardier (formerly Canadair) between 1999 and 2020. Their design was derived from ...
.
*
TUI Airways
TUI Airways Limited (formerly Thomsonfly and Thomson Airways) is a British charter airline, offering scheduled and charter flights from the United Kingdom and Ireland to destinations in Europe, Africa, Asia and North America.
The airline is t ...
refers to their
Boeing 737
The Boeing 737 is a narrow-body aircraft produced by Boeing at its Renton Factory in Washington.
Developed to supplement the Boeing 727 on short and thin routes, the twinjet retains the 707 fuselage width and six abreast seating with two un ...
as a short and mid-haul airliner and the
Boeing 767
The Boeing 767 is an American wide-body aircraft developed and manufactured by Boeing Commercial Airplanes.
The aircraft was launched as the 7X7 program on July 14, 1978, the prototype first flew on September 26, 1981, and it was certified on ...
and
787
787 may refer to:
* Boeing 787 Dreamliner, a jet airliner
* AD 787, a year
* 787 BC, a year
* Mazda 787/787B, a Japanese rotary-engine race car which won the 1991 Le Mans Race
* Porsche 787, a race car from the 1960s
* 787 series, a train model o ...
as long haul.
While they are capable of flying further, long-haul capable wide-bodies are often used on shorter trips. In 2017 - 40% of A350 routes were shorter than , 50% of A380 flights fell within , 70% of 777-200ER routes were shorter than , 80% of 787-9s routes were shorter than , 70% of 777-200LRs flights were shorter than .
Superlative flights
Shortest commercial flight
The
Westray to Papa Westray flight in
Orkney
Orkney (; sco, Orkney; on, Orkneyjar; nrn, Orknøjar), also known as the Orkney Islands, is an archipelago in the Northern Isles of Scotland, situated off the north coast of the island of Great Britain. Orkney is 10 miles (16 km) north ...
, operated by
Loganair
Loganair is a Scottish regional airline based at Glasgow Airport near Paisley, Scotland. It is the largest regional airline in the UK by passenger numbers and fleet size.
In addition to its main base at Glasgow, it has hubs at Aberdeen, Edinb ...
, is the shortest commercial flight in the world over 2.8 km (1.7 mi) in two minutes scheduled flight time including taxiing.
Longest commercial flight
The world's longest ever commercial flight was
Air Tahiti Nui
Air Tahiti Nui is the flag carrier of the French overseas collectivity of French Polynesia, with its head office in Papeete and its daily operations office in Faaa, Tahiti. It operates long-haul flights from its home base at Faa'a International ...
Flight TN64 in early 2020. Due to the
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...
and the impossibility of transit in the USA through
Los Angeles International Airport
Los Angeles International Airport , commonly referred to as LAX (with each letter pronounced individually), is the primary international airport serving Los Angeles, California and its surrounding metropolitan area. LAX is located in the W ...
,
Air Tahiti Nui
Air Tahiti Nui is the flag carrier of the French overseas collectivity of French Polynesia, with its head office in Papeete and its daily operations office in Faaa, Tahiti. It operates long-haul flights from its home base at Faa'a International ...
scheduled and operated in March and April 2020 Flight TN64 as a non-stop flight between
Papeete
Papeete (Tahitian language, Tahitian: ''Papeete'', pronounced ) is the capital city of French Polynesia, an overseas collectivity of the France, French Republic in the Pacific Ocean. The Communes of France, commune of Papeete is located on the isl ...
and
Paris Charles de Gaulle
Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport (french: Aéroport de Paris-Charles-de-Gaulle, ), also known as Roissy Airport or simply Paris CDG, is the principal airport serving the French capital, Paris ( and its metropolitan area), and the largest intern ...
, using a
Boeing 787-9
The Boeing 787 Dreamliner is an American wide-body jet airliner developed and manufactured by Boeing Commercial Airplanes.
After dropping its unconventional Sonic Cruiser project, Boeing announced the conventional 7E7 on January 29, 2003, ...
and covering 15,715 km (9,765 mi; 8,485 nmi).
From November 9, 2020,
Singapore Airline
Singapore Airlines ( abbreviation: SIA) is the flag carrier airline of the Republic of Singapore with its hub located at Singapore Changi Airport. The airline is notable for highlighting the Singapore Girl as its central figure in corporate ...
s SQ 23/24 is the world's longest active commercial flight between
Singapore
Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...
and
JFK Airport
John F. Kennedy International Airport (colloquially referred to as JFK Airport, Kennedy Airport, New York-JFK, or simply JFK) is the main international airport serving New York City. The airport is the busiest of the seven airports in the Avia ...
New York City, USA
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Uni ...
. covering in around 18 hours 40min and operated by an
Airbus A350-900ULR.
Distinctions
Absolute distance versus flight length
![Greatcircle Jetstream routes](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/79/Greatcircle_Jetstream_routes.svg)
The absolute distance between two points is the
great-circle distance
The great-circle distance, orthodromic distance, or spherical distance is the distance along a great circle.
It is the shortest distance between two points on the surface of a sphere, measured along the surface of the sphere (as opposed to a ...
, which is always the shortest geographical route. In the example (right), the aircraft travelling westward from North America to Japan is following a great-circle route extending northward towards the
Arctic
The Arctic ( or ) is a polar regions of Earth, polar region located at the northernmost part of Earth. The Arctic consists of the Arctic Ocean, adjacent seas, and parts of Canada (Yukon, Northwest Territories, Nunavut), Danish Realm (Greenla ...
region. The apparent curve of the route is a result of distortion when plotted onto a conventional map projection and makes the route appear to be longer than it really is. Stretching a string between North America and Japan on a globe will demonstrate why this really is the shortest route despite appearances.
The actual flight length is the length of the track flown across the ground in practice, which is usually longer than the ideal great-circle and is influenced by a number of factors such as the need to avoid bad weather, wind direction and speed, fuel economy, navigational restrictions and other requirements. In the example, easterly flights from Japan to North America are shown taking a longer, more southerly, route than the shorter great-circle; this is to take advantage of the favourable
jet stream
Jet streams are fast flowing, narrow, meandering thermal wind, air currents in the Atmosphere of Earth, atmospheres of some planets, including Earth. On Earth, the main jet streams are located near the altitude of the tropopause and are west ...
, a fast, high-altitude tail-wind, that assists the aircraft along its ground track saving more time and fuel than the geographically shortest route.
Air time versus schedule times
Air time is the elapsed time that the aircraft is airborne, regardless of what
time-zone
A time zone is an area which observes a uniform standard time for legal, commercial and social purposes. Time zones tend to follow the boundaries between countries and their subdivisions instead of strictly following longitude, because it i ...
the flight began and ended in.
Schedule time is the difference between the scheduled local time at the origin and the scheduled local time at the destination and usually differs from the actual time in the air as it is affected by the local time zones. Local clock time flying westward, or "chasing the sun", is slowed, while local clock time flying eastbound is sped up. However, flights over the
International Date Line
The International Date Line (IDL) is an internationally accepted demarcation on the surface of Earth, running between the South and North Poles and serving as the boundary between one calendar day and the next. It passes through the Pacific O ...
located at approximately 180
o E in the Pacific will subtract 24 hours from the schedule time going eastwards and add 24 hours going westwards. For example, the eastward flight shown in the example from Japan to North America will have a scheduled time of arrival earlier than the departure time, while from North America to Japan the flight will take a whole day longer by local time; the actual flying time in both cases being the same or similar.
Flight Length versus Flight Duration example
Even with the same length, a route's flight duration can be affected by anticipated routings, seasonal weather, traffic, taxiing time, or equipment capabilities as seen in this example:
On the Luxembourg to Bucharest route operated by
LuxAir
Luxair, legally ''Luxair S.A., Société Luxembourgeoise de Navigation Aérienne'', is the flag carrier airline of Luxembourg with its headquarters and hub at Luxembourg Airport. It operates scheduled services to destinations in Europe, North Af ...
, the scheduled flight length remains constant while the flight duration varies depending on aircraft used:
* On Thursday mornings, LuxAir operates a
DHC-8
The De Havilland Canada DHC-8, commonly known as the Dash 8, is a series of turboprop-powered regional airliners, introduced by de Havilland Canada (DHC) in 1984. DHC was later bought by Boeing in 1988, then by Bombardier in 1992; then by ...
Turboprop with a scheduled duration of approximately 3 hours.
* While on Saturday mornings, LuxAir operates a
Embraer 190
The Embraer E-Jet family is a series of four-abreast narrow-body short- to medium-range twin-engine jet airliners designed and produced by the Brazilian aerospace manufacturer Embraer.
The E-Jet was designed as a complement to the preceding E ...
Jet Airliner, which reduces the scheduled duration of the flight down to approximately 2 hours 20 minutes.
See also
*
Endurance (aeronautics)
In aviation, endurance is the maximum length of time that an aircraft can spend in cruising flight. In other words, it is the amount of time an aircraft can stay in the air with one load of fuel. Endurance is different from range, which is a meas ...
*
Flight distance record
This list of flight distance records contains only those set without any mid-air refueling.
Non-commercial powered aircraft
Commercial aircraft
Shortest distance
The Loganair Westray to Papa Westray route and its return flight make up the s ...
*
Flight duration
In aviation, the flight length refers to the distance of a flight. Commercial flights are often categorized into long-, medium- or short-haul by airline, commercial airlines based on flight length, although there is no international standard defin ...
*
International flight
An international flight is a form of commercial flight within civil aviation where the departure and the arrival take place in different countries.
Regular international passenger air service began in August 1919 with a flight going from Lond ...
*
List of regional airliners
The following is a list of commercial short-haul civilian passenger "regional" airliners with significant build numbers. Regional airliners typically seat fewer than 100 passengers and fill the short-hop role in the Spoke-hub distribution paradigm ...
*
Longest Flights
Over time, commercial airlines have established a number of scheduled ultra long-haul non-stop flights. These exceptionally long routes reduce the travel time between distant city pairs as well as the number of stops needed for passengers' trave ...
*
Non-stop flight
A non-stop flight is a flight by an aircraft with no intermediate stops.
History
During the early age of aviation industry when aircraft range was limited, most flights were served in the form of milk run, aka there were many stops along th ...
*
Range (aeronautics)
The maximal total range is the maximum distance an aircraft can fly between takeoff and landing. Powered aircraft range is limited by the aviation fuel energy storage capacity (chemical or electrical) considering both weight and volume limits. Un ...
*
Short-haul flight ban
A short-haul flight ban is a prohibition imposed by governments on airlines to establish and maintain a flight connection over a certain distance, or by organisations or companies on their employees for business travel using existing flight con ...
References
External links
The Great Circle MapperDisplays Great Circle flight routes on a Map And calculates distance and duration
Flight-time and -distance calculatorAir Miles CalculatorFlight Duration CalculatorFlight Distance CalculatorFlight routes duration and Great Circle Mapper
{{DEFAULTSORT:Flight Length
Civil aviation