Boeing 787 Dreamliner – World’s Longest Non-Stop Flight

By: Michael Stevens
10/24/2010 07:23 AM ET

The Boeing 787 Dreamliner has been dubbed the world’s longest non-stop aircraft for passenger flights. The 787 flights going overseas will often be a long journey with fewer stops. One flight hit a 19-hour record after flying from Singapore to Newark, New Jersey.

However, the Boeing 787 will change all of that because of the Dreamliner’s low fuel consumption technology.

For years, whether to refuel or allow for connecting flights, multi-stop trips were the norm for those traveling ultra-long distances. Not so today. That’s because airlines are increasingly using planes with long-range capability and passengers traveling farther afield are eagerly boarding them.

According to July Airline Traffic Statistics from OAG, a global flight information and data solutions company, the number of scheduled non-stop flights has been increasing steadily over the past six years. There were 866 scheduled passenger flights between Hong Kong International Airport and the U.S. or Canada in July 2001 vs. 1,000 scheduled for July 2007. And there have already been 677 orders to date for the Boeing Dreamliner 787, one of the aircraft utilized for ultra-long, nonstop flights.

Christopher Pickard of DBA P.R. , which represents OAG, says the growing demand for this type of trip is the result of people regaining confidence in flight since Sept. 11, 2001. He says there is also a desire for people to explore the world. “People are just a lot happier moving around,” Pickard said in a statement. And while a business trip can easily be replaced with video-conferencing and telecommuting, “nothing really beats the face-to-face meeting.”

These passenger flights are becoming more common in part because liners are capable of performing non-stop journeys without refueling due to a larger fuel capacity. Some popular non-stop crafts are the Boeing 777, Airbus A340-500 and the Boeing 787 Dreamliner. The Boeing 787 Dreamliner celebrated its premiere on July 8 and will begin flight tests in late August or September. The plane uses 20 percent less fuel than those currently flying non-stop.