Emirates replaces Qantas for the world’s longest flight

Emirates has bumped Qantas Airways out of the top spot for the world’s longest flight. Emirates took over the title recently with the launch of its 8,819-mile nonstop route between Dubai in the United Arab Emirates and Auckland, New Zealand.
That drops Qantas’ 8,576-mile route between Dallas/Fort Worth and Sydney, Australia – the previous record holder – into second place, according to flight-data provider OAG. Delta’s 8,434-mile nonstop route between Atlanta and Johannesburg, South Africa, slides to No. 3.
Qatar Airways’ CEO Akbar Al Baker said earlier this year that the carrier would soon launch non-stop flights from its Doha hub to both Auckland and Santiago, Chile. Those routes – if launched – would become the world’s longest, though Qatar Airways has made no formal announcement about when or if it would follow through on Al Baker’s comments.
“We will not add a city before we have the network to support it,” Qatar Airways said in a statement. “While the title of longest airline flight may move and shift between carriers, only a few airlines are competing in that space. That’s where the advantage of our geography comes in.”
As for Emirates’ new Dubai-Auckland route, the carrier is using 266-seat Boeing 777-200LR jets that feature eight first-class “suites,” 42 lie-flat business-class seats and 216 economy-class seats.
Emirates already serves Auckland with daily flights, but each stops in one of three Australian cities (Sydney, Melbourne or Brisbane) en route. The Auckland-Dubai flight is the first nonstop connecting linking the cities.