Flight distance record

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This list of flight distance records contains only those set without any mid-air refueling.

Non-commercial powered aircraft[edit]

Sortable table
Year Date Distance Pilot Aircraft Notes
2006 February 8–12, 2006 41,467.46 km Steve Fossett GlobalFlyer Single pilot (Steve Fossett) flight.[1][2]
1986 December 14–23, 1986 40,212.14 km Richard Glenn Rutan and Jeana Yeager Rutan Voyager Circumnavigation. Fédération Aéronautique Internationale record holder up to 2006 (current class holder).[3]
1962 January 10–11, 1962 20,168.78 km
(12532.3 mi)
Major Clyde P. Evely and crew Boeing B-52H Stratofortress From Kadena AB, Okinawa, to Torrejon AB, Spain, via Tokyo, Seattle, Fort Worth, Washington and the Azores[4]
1946 September 29 – October 2, 1946 18,083.6 km CDR Tom Davies pilot, Cdr. Eugene Rankin (co-pilot) and two crew P2V-1 Neptune From Perth, Australia to Columbus, Ohio, US
1944 July 2, 1944 16,435 km Imperial Japanese Army Air Service (Omata, Tanaka, Shimazaki, Sakamoto, Motimatsu, Habiro) Tachikawa Ki-77 From Xinjing to Baicheng, China (closed circuit)
1939 August 1, 1939 12,936 km (8,038 mi) Regia Aeronautica: Angelo Tondi, Riccardo Dogasso, Ferruccio Vignoni, Aldo Staiano Savoia-Marchetti SM.82 Closed-circuit world record
1945 November 20, 1945 12,739.6 km U.S. Army Air Forces; C. S. Irvine + crew of 9 Boeing B-29 Superfortress From Guam to Washington
1938 November 5–7, 1938 11,520.4 km
(7,162 miles)
Royal Air Force Long Range Development Unit; R. Kellett, H.A.V. Hogan and A. N. Combe (first pilots) + crew of two (also qualified pilots) in each aircraft Vickers Wellesley From Ismailia, Egypt, to Darwin, Northern Territory, in Australia; three aircraft flew in formation, Hogan landed to refuel at Koepang (500 miles short of Darwin, Australia), the other two landed at Darwin, Northern Territory.[5]
1938 May 13–15, 1938 11,651.011 km Yuzoh Fujita + crew (Japan) Koken-ki Three-corner course over Japan. Closed-circuit record.[6]
1937 July 12–14, 1937 10,148.5 km Mikhail Gromov + crew (Soviet Union) Tupolev ANT-25 From Moscow to San Jacinto [ru], California, US
1933 August 5–7, 1933 9,104.7 km Maurice Rossi and Paul Codos (France) Blériot 110 F-ALCC From Floyd Bennett Field, New York to Rayak, Syria
1933 February 8, 1933 8,544 km Royal Air Force Long Range Development Unit; O. R. Gayford and Gilbert Nicholetts Fairey Long-range Monoplane K1991 From Cranwell, UK, to Walvis Bay, South Africa
1931 August 18–29 8,940 km Marga von Etzdorf Junkers A 50ce Junior From Berlin Tempelhof Airport to Haneda Airport
1931 October 5 8,851 km Clyde Pangborn and Hugh Herndon Bellanca CH-400 or Bellanca J-300 ''Miss Veedol'' From Wenatchee Washington to Misawa Japan
1931 July 28–31 8,066 km Russell Boardman and John Polando Bellanca J-300 Special Cape Cod NR761W From Floyd Bennett Field to Istanbul[7]
1929 December 15–19, 1929 8,029.44 km Dieudonné Costes and P. Codas Breguet 19 Super Bidon Point d'Interrogation Closed-circuit record.[8][9]
1929 September 27–29, 1929 7,905.140 km Dieudonne Costes and Maurice Bellonte Breguet 19 Super Bidon Point d'Interrogation Paris to Qiqihar, China.[10]
1928 July 3–5, 1928 7,188.26 km Arturo Ferrarin and Carlo del Prete Savoia Marchetti S.64 From Montecelio (Italy) to Touros (Brasil). Distance in a straight line. FAI Database ID#9108
1927 June 28–29 3,862.43 km Albert Francis Hegenberger and Lester Maitland Fokker F.VII From California to Hawaii, the longest open sea flight up to that date, in the "Bird of Paradise". They received the Mackey Trophy and the Distinguished Flying Cross from President Calvin Coolidge for this achievement.[11]
1927 May 20–21, 1927 5,809 km Charles Lindbergh Ryan NYP, Spirit of St. Louis Single pilot flight, New York to Paris[12][13]
1926 October 28–29, 1926 5,396 km Dieudonné Costes and Jean Rignot Breguet 19 GR From Paris–Le Bourget Airport to Djask, Iran[14][15]
1926 August 31 – September 1, 1926 5,174 km Léon Challe and René Weiser Breguet 19 GR From Paris–Le Bourget Airport to Bandar Abbas[14][16]
1926 July 14–15, 1926 4715.90 km André Girier and François Dordilly Breguet 19 GR From Paris to Omsk[14][17]
1926 June 26–27, 1926 4313 km Ludovic Arrachart and Paul Arrachart Potez 28 From Paris to Basrah, Iraq[18][19]
1925 August 30–31, 1925 3,206 km CDR John Rodgers (USN) PN-9 Flying Boat From San Francisco and Honolulu by Seaplane over open water without visual navigational aides.[20][21]
1925 August 7–9, 1925 4,400 km Maurice Drouhin and Jules Landry Farman F.62 Goliath Closed circuit Chartres–Étampes–Toussus–Chartres.[22][23]
1925 February 3–4, 1925 3,166.30 km Ludovic Arrachart and Henry Lemaitre Breguet 19 Distance in a straight line record. Étampes–Villa Cisneros.[24][25]
1923 April 16–17, 1923 4,050 km Oakley G. Kelly and John A. Macready Fokker T.2 Closed circuit around Dayton, Ohio[26][27]
1920 June 3–4, 1920 1,915.2 km L Boussoutrot and J Bernard Farman Goliath Closed-circuit record[28]
1919 June 14–15, 1919 3,040 km John Alcock and Arthur Brown Vickers Vimy Flew non-stop from St. John's, Newfoundland, to Clifden, Connemara, in 15 hours 57 minutes
1914 February 7, 1914 1,699 km Karl Ingold Mercedes Aviatik-Pfeil[29] He flew continuously from 7:35 am until 11:55 pm covering 1,056 miles in 16 hours and 20 minutes.[30]
1903 December 17, 1903 279 m Wilbur Wright Wright Flyer 59 seconds
1903 December 17, 1903 39 m Orville Wright Wright Flyer 12 seconds
1852 September 24, 1852 27.36 km
(17 miles)
Henri Giffard The Giffard airship Over an hour[31]

Commercial aircraft[edit]

Year Date Distance Pilot Aircraft Reference
2005 November 9, 2005 21,601 km [32] Suzanna Darcy-Henneman, Richard Austin, John Cashman, Mathew Mathew, Frank P. Santoni Jr, Philip Schultz, Rodney Skaar[32] Boeing 777-200LR Hong Kong International Airport to London Heathrow Airport the long way round taking 22 hours, 22 minutes[33][34]
1997 April 2, 1997 20,045 km [35] Frank P. Santoni Jr, Richard Austin, John Cashman, Charles Hovlano, Joseph McDonald, James McRoberts, Rodney Skaar[35] Boeing 777-200ER Malaysia Airlines delivery flight from Boeing Field, Seattle to Kuala Lumpur International Airport in 21 hours and 23 minutes.[36][37]
1993 June 16 to 18, 1993 19,246 km[38][39] Pierre Baud, Gérard Guyot, Nicholas "Nick" Warner, Bernard Ziegler[39] Airbus A340-200 Set two new records as it flew an around the world route. First flying 19,089 kilometres (11,861 mi; 10,307 nmi) from Paris-Le Bourget Airport to Auckland, New Zealand in 21 hours and 32 minutes.[40] After a 5 hour layover, the flight continued east-bound on a slightly longer route back to Paris-Le Bourget flying 19,246 kilometres (11,959 mi; 10,392 nmi), covering a great circle distance of 18,541 kilometres (11,521 mi; 10,011 nmi)[41] in 21 hours and 46 minutes.[42][43][44]
2011 December 6, 2011 19,142 km [45][46] Michael Carriker, Chad Lundy, Gregory McCann, William Roberson, Rodney Skaar, Christine Walsh[45] Boeing 787-8 Boeing Field to Shahjalal International Airport, Dhaka, Bangladesh in 21 hours and 43 minutes on a trans-atlantic eastward route.[47]
2020 April 14 to 15, 2020 18,209 km Boeing 777-300ER Virgin Australia ferry flight from Charles de Gaulle Airport to Brisbane Airport in 19 hours and 45 minutes; returning after evacuating French citizens from New Zealand due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
2019 November 14 to 15, 2019 17,750 km Boeing 787-9 Qantas Between London Heathrow Airport and Sydney International Airport in 19 hours and 19 minutes.[48]
2013 June 6, 2013 17,312 km Airbus A330-200 Delta Air Lines ferry flight between Singapore and Atlanta in 18 hours and 34 minutes; returning from extensive cabin renovations.
1989 August 16 to 17, 1989 17,039 km [49] David Massy-Greene[49] Boeing 747-400 Qantas delivery flight from London Heathrow Airport to Sydney International Airport in 20 hours and 9 minutes.[50][51]
2002 December 24, 2002 16,901 km [52] Bruce Simpson, David Collier, Bruce Van Eyle, James Peach[52] Airbus A330-200 Qantas between Toulouse and Melbourne in 20 hours 4 minutes.[53]
2004 June 28, 2004 16,467 km[54] Airbus A340-500 Singapore Airlines between Singapore and Newark, New Jersey, in a scheduled time of 18 hours 20 minutes covering approximately 16,600 km. It was the longest regularly scheduled commercial flight except until termination on November 23, 2013, and relaunch on October 18, 2018 [55] until being surpassed in 2020.
2019 October 18 to 20, 2019 16,200 km Boeing 787-9 Qantas between New York and Sydney in 19 hours 16 minutes.[56][57]
2003 November 5, 2003 15,300 km Boeing 777-300ER Boeing Company between Sydney and Recife, Brazil in 18 hours 25 minutes. ETOPS test flight.[58]
2017 February 5, 2017 14,535 km Boeing 777-200LR Qatar Airways between Doha and Auckland in 16 hours 10 minutes, formerly the world's longest commercial flight.
2004 February 3, 2004 14,093 km Airbus A340-500 Singapore Airlines between Singapore and Los Angeles in 14 hours 42 minutes.[55]
1988 September 17, 1988 14,042 km Boeing 767-200ER Air Mauritius between Halifax and Mauritius in 16 hours and 27 minutes.

Shortest distance[edit]

The Loganair Westray to Papa Westray route and its return flight make up the shortest flight distance for any scheduled air carrier service. The route is 2.8 km (1.7 miles), and travel time, including taxi, is usually less than two minutes. The route is served by Loganair airlines' Britten-Norman Islander aircraft. This record was established when service began in 1967, and it remains in effect as of December 2022.[59][60]

Other types of aircraft[edit]

Date Measurement Person Aircraft Reference
January 21, 2003 3,008.8 km Klaus Ohlmann and Karl Rabeder Schempp-Hirth Nimbus-4 The gliding flight consisted of four legs along the eastern side of the Andes mountain range. The flight time of 15h 8m giving an average speed of almost exactly 200 km/h.[61][62]
March 21, 1999 40,814 km Bertrand Piccard and Brian Jones Breitling Orbiter Distance record for a balloon
January 31, 2015 10,711 km Troy Bradley and Leonid Tiukhtyaev Two Eagles Balloon Distance record for a straight gas balloon
April 23, 1988 115.11 km Kanellos Kanellopoulos Daedalus 88 Straight distance record for Humanpowered aeroplane. This record was achieved by flying from Iraklion to Santorini Island for 3 h 54 min 59 sec.[63][64]

See also[edit]

Notes and references[edit]

  1. ^ "FAI Record ID #13081 - Distance, C-Absolute (Absolute Record of classes C, H and M) Archived 2014-10-17 at the Wayback Machine" Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI). Retrieved: October 10, 2014.
  2. ^ Fossett link Archived October 3, 2012, at the Wayback Machine
  3. ^ "FAI Record ID #8391 - Distance over a closed course. Class C-1e Archived 2013-12-24 at the Wayback Machine" Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI). Retrieved: October 10, 2014.
  4. ^ Taylor 1966, p. 2.
  5. ^ "Triple triumph" Flight 1938
  6. ^ Mikesh and Abe 1990, p. 91.
  7. ^ "'Cape Cod's' Success Climaxes 5 Years [of] Bellanca Records". The Sunday Morning Star, Wilmington, DE. August 2, 1931. Retrieved September 4, 2013.
  8. ^ "FAI Record ID #9288". Archived from the original on April 29, 2014. Retrieved November 8, 2013..
  9. ^ "New Closed Circuit Record". Flight. Vol. XXI, no. 1095. December 20, 1929. p. 1330.
  10. ^ "World's Records In Aviation". Flight, March 20, 1931, p. 247.
  11. ^ Bird of Paradise Archived December 12, 2006, at the Wayback Machine
  12. ^ "FAI Record ID #14842". Archived from the original on April 29, 2014. Retrieved November 8, 2013..
  13. ^ "New York–Paris: Lindbergh's Non-Stop Fight Across the Atlantic". Flight. Vol. XIX, no. 961. May 26, 1927. pp. 331–333.
  14. ^ a b c Green, Swanborough and Leyvastre 1978, p. 171.
  15. ^ "FAI Record ID #9306". Archived from the original on August 3, 2017. Retrieved November 8, 2013..
  16. ^ "FAI Record ID #9307". Archived from the original on April 29, 2014. Retrieved November 8, 2013..
  17. ^ "FAI Record ID #9299". Archived from the original on April 29, 2014. Retrieved November 8, 2013..
  18. ^ "FAI Record ID #9304". Fédération Aéronautique Internationale. Archived from the original on September 24, 2015. Retrieved October 19, 2014.
  19. ^ Parmentier, Bruno. "Potez 28/2". aviafrance. Retrieved October 19, 2014.
  20. ^ "Hawaii Aviation". hawaii.gov.
  21. ^ "Hawaii Aviation". hawaii.gov.
  22. ^ "The New World's Duration Record". Flight. Vol. XVII, no. 868. August 13, 1925. p. 525.
  23. ^ "The World's Duration Record: Some More Details Concerning the Wonderful Farman Performance". Flight. Vol. XVII, no. 870. August 27, 1925. p. 550.
  24. ^ Green, Swanborough and Leyvastre 1978, p. 170.
  25. ^ "FAI Record ID #9305". Archived from the original on April 29, 2014. Retrieved November 8, 2013..
  26. ^ "Thirty-six Hours in the Air". Flight. Vol. XV, no. 748. April 26, 1923. p. 232.
  27. ^ "Records Homologated". Flight. Vol. XV, no. 757. June 28, 1923. p. 356.
  28. ^ "The Royal Aero Club of the U.K.: Official Notices to Members: Official World's Records Passed by the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale, January 6 to October 20, 1920". Flight. Vol. XII, no. 625. December 16, 1920. p. 1274.
  29. ^ "Aviatik B / P.14". flyingmachines.ru.
  30. ^ "German Airmen Sets Record". Popular Mechanics. 1914.
  31. ^ "The Giffard Airship, 1852. - - Science Museum". Archived from the original on July 21, 2015. Retrieved August 3, 2015.
  32. ^ a b "Suzanna Darcy-hennemann (USA) (12181) | World Air Sports Federation". www.fai.org. October 10, 2017. Retrieved June 19, 2023.
  33. ^ "Flight-distance record awaits as big 777 heads to London". seattlepi.com. November 8, 2005. Retrieved October 13, 2018.
  34. ^ Chuck Cadena. "Boeing to Set New World Record for Distance with 777-200LR Worldliner Flight". boeing.mediaroom.com.
  35. ^ a b "Frank P. Santoni, Jr (USA) (4315) | World Air Sports Federation". www.fai.org. October 10, 2017. Retrieved June 19, 2023.
  36. ^ "Boeing 777 Distance and Speed World Records Confirmed". MediaRoom. Retrieved June 19, 2023.
  37. ^ "Boeing 777 Breaks Speed and Distance World Records". MediaRoom. Retrieved June 19, 2023.
  38. ^ Asselin, Mario (1997). An Introduction to Aircraft Performance. AIAA. ISBN 978-1-60086-024-9.
  39. ^ a b "Pierre Baud (FRA) (28) | World Air Sports Federation". www.fai.org. October 10, 2017. Retrieved June 19, 2023.
  40. ^ "New Airliner Record for longest nonstop flight". Air Line Pilot. Vol. 62. Air Line Pilot's Association International. 1993. p. 10.
  41. ^ Asselin, Mario (1997). An Introduction to Aircraft Performance. American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics. p. 96. ISBN 9781600860249.
  42. ^ "Record-breakers (1993-2000) - Airbus Commercial Aircraft". Airbus. Archived from the original on 5 December 2017. Retrieved 4 December 2017.
  43. ^ Guy Norris; Mark Wagner (2001). Airbus A340 and A330. pp. 73–74. ISBN 0-7603-0889-6.
  44. ^ "World Ranger | Airbus Press Release". Airbus.com. Archived from the original on February 23, 2017.
  45. ^ a b "Michael H. Carriker (USA) (16210) | World Air Sports Federation". www.fai.org. October 10, 2017. Retrieved June 19, 2023.
  46. ^ "Boeing picks up awards for record-breaking 787 flight | News | Flight Global". May 16, 2022. Archived from the original on May 16, 2022. Retrieved June 19, 2023.
  47. ^ "Boeing 787 Dreamliner Sets Speed, Distance Records". MediaRoom. Retrieved June 19, 2023.
  48. ^ "Qantas Flew Non-stop from London to Sydney in Less Than 20 Hours". www.qantas.com. Retrieved July 23, 2020.
  49. ^ a b "David Massy-Greene (AUS) (2201) | World Air Sports Federation". www.fai.org. October 10, 2017. Retrieved June 19, 2023.
  50. ^ "From the archives: Longreach: Qantas Boeing 747 VH-OJA's record flight". Australian Aviation. August 19, 2019. Retrieved June 19, 2023.
  51. ^ "First Non-stop England-Australia Flight 1989". www.airwaysmuseum.com. Retrieved June 19, 2023.
  52. ^ a b "Bruce Simpson (AUS) (7591) | World Air Sports Federation". www.fai.org. October 10, 2017. Retrieved June 19, 2023.
  53. ^ "Qantas flies Airbus A330 nonstop from Europe to Australia". Airbus.
  54. ^ "Singapore Airlines (SQ) #22 ✈ FlightAware". April 12, 2016. Archived from the original on April 12, 2016. Retrieved June 19, 2023.
  55. ^ a b "Singapore Airlines A340-500 Beats its own Non-Stop Flight Distance Record". June 28, 2004. Retrieved September 4, 2013.
  56. ^ Hatch, Patrick (October 20, 2019). "On board the 19 hour Qantas flight from New York to Sydney". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved October 31, 2019.
  57. ^ Josephs, Leslie (October 18, 2019). "Qantas tests passenger limits — and pilot brain patterns — on world's longest nonstop flight". CNBC. Retrieved October 31, 2019.
  58. ^ "Boeing set for final 777-300ER phase" (PDF). November 5, 2003. Retrieved May 6, 2018.
  59. ^ "Final trip for Orkney shortest flight pilot". BBC News. May 26, 2013. Retrieved January 21, 2016.
  60. ^ Clarke, Chris (April 17, 2015). "The World's Shortest Commercial Flight Takes Less Than A Minute". Flight Club. Retrieved January 21, 2016.
  61. ^ FAI link to gliding records Archived December 5, 2006, at the Wayback Machine
  62. ^ "Schallmauer durchbrochen" (PDF). Skyrevue. January 2003. Archived from the original (PDF) on June 3, 2012. Retrieved September 4, 2013. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  63. ^ "Kanellos Kanellopoulos (GRE) (385) | World Air Sports Federation". Fédération Aéronautique Internationale. January 21, 2021. Retrieved April 7, 2021.
  64. ^ "Kanellos Kanellopoulos (GRE) (384) | World Air Sports Federation". Fédération Aéronautique Internationale. January 21, 2021. Retrieved April 7, 2021.

References[edit]

  • Green, William, Gordon Swanborough and Pierre Layvastre. "The Saga of the Ubiquitous Breguet". Air Enthusiast, Seven, July–September 1978. pp. 161–181.
  • Mikesh, Robert C. and Abe, Shorzoe. Japanese Aircraft 1910-1941. London:Putnam, 1990. ISBN 0-85177-840-2.
  • Taylor, John W. R. Jane's All The World's Aircraft 1966-67. London:Sampson Low, Marston & Company, 1966.