Aircraft

Emirates completes first flights on world's new longest route

Emirates completes first flights on world's new longest route
The maiden UAE448 flight from Dubai to Auckland took 14 hours, 40 minutes
The maiden UAE448 flight from Dubai to Auckland took 14 hours, 40 minutes
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The maiden UAE448 flight from Dubai to Auckland took 14 hours, 40 minutes
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The maiden UAE448 flight from Dubai to Auckland took 14 hours, 40 minutes
The A380 used for the maiden flight was received with a traditional water canon salute after touchdown in Auckland
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The A380 used for the maiden flight was received with a traditional water canon salute after touchdown in Auckland

Emirates has completed the first flights on its 8,833-mi (14,215-km) new route between Dubai and Auckland, New Zealand, which is believed to be the longest scheduled commercial route in the world. It picks up the baton from a Qantas route between Sydney and Dallas/Fort Worth, which covers 8,578 mi (13,805 km).

The maiden UAE448 flight took off from Dubai on Tuesday at 22:18 local time and landed in Auckland 10:33 local time, some 14 hours, 40 minutes later. This leg of the route is actually scheduled to take just under 16 hours, meaning the flight-time was shorter than expected.

The first UAE449 return leg of the journey took off from Auckland at 22:20 local time and landed in Dubai at 05:46 local time. With a flight time of 16 hours, 26 minutes, this leg was also shorter than expected, with a scheduled flight time of 17 hours, 15 minutes.

The A380 used for the maiden flight was received with a traditional water canon salute after touchdown in Auckland
The A380 used for the maiden flight was received with a traditional water canon salute after touchdown in Auckland

In celebration of the new route, both legs were operated with a double-decker Airbus A380, as opposed to the Boeing 777-200LR that will typically be used. The Boeings can carry up to 266 passengers and are designed for such ultra-long-haul flights.

Emirates is due to launch a service between Dubai and Panama that is a shorter distance that its Dubai-Auckland service, but that has a longer flight-time. All fall short of the discontinued Singapore Airlines Flight 21 service between Singapore and Newark, which covered a huge 9,534 miles (15,343 km).

The video below shows the maiden UAE448 flight landing in Auckland.

Source: Emirates

Emirates launches milestone Dubai-Auckland non-stop service | Emirates Airline

1 comment
1 comment
NickReid
I wonder how much demand there will be for a 16 hour flight, especially amongst those of us condemned to travel cattle class. Personally, I much prefer to take a 12 or 24 hour break half way (in Asia), and have a sleep and a shower and a walk. It makes flying almost pleasant.