The world has a new, longest Boeing 747 service. As Air China is switching Beijing Capital to New York JFK back to the 365-seat 747-8 and again making the return non-stop, it becomes number one by block time. Presently, its East Coast US routes operate back to China via Los Angeles.
The world’s longest 747 flight
While presently operated by the 777-300ER, Beijing-JFK will revert to the 747-8 on January 1st, 2024. The 6,838-mile (11,004 km) route will continue to operate three times weekly but will again be non-stop in both directions, which is a significant development.
It is scheduled as follows, with all times local. The first JFK-Beijing service by the 747-8 will be on January 2nd.
Block time includes taxi time at both airports, flight time, and time for short delays. At more than 17 hours, OAG and Cirium data analysis shows that it has become the world’s longest block of any 747-400 or 747-8 scheduled passenger route globally, based on the latest data for 2024 as of November 30th.
On the few occasions the 747-8 served the route in 2023, most recently on October 28th, it had a non-stop block of 16h 30m. Flightradar24 indicates that the 747-8’s maximum flight time was 16h 38m (on October 1st). Add in winter winds, and 17h 10m looks reasonable.
The route, presently using the 777-300ER, switched from non-stop to via Los Angeles on October 30th, just after airlines in the Northern Hemisphere adopted winter schedules. The coming 17h 10m is certainly and obviously much better and more competitive than the present 23h via California.
According to simpleflying.com. Source of photo: internet
