As airlines launch new flights and rework their networks, the impressive-sounding title of the longest flight in the world shifts.
Since 2018, it has been held by the 18-hour, 40-minute Singapore Airlines (SINGY) flight between New York and Singapore, while Australia’s flagship carrier Qantas Airways (QUBSF) is slated to overtake it with a 20-hour flight between Sydney and New York launching in May 2025.
While there have been longer flights operated historically (Paris to Auckland in 21 hours and 32 minutes launched by Air France (AFRAF) in 1993, for example), many eventually get discontinued due to the cost and impracticality of running them when the small number of passengers who need to take them can instead transfer.
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Delta to launch new L.A. to Melbourne route in 2025
While the route between Los Angeles and the second-largest Australian city of Melbourne is already served by both Qantas and United Airlines (UAL) , Delta Air Lines (DAL) just announced that it will launch its own flight between these two cities in December 2025.
The new route will run on an Airbus A350 (EADSF) and fly three times a week on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. On each of those dates, the 275-passenger plane will depart from LAX at 9:25 p.m. to arrive at Melbourne Airport (MEL) 7,920 miles (12,746 kilometers) away and just over 15 hours later.
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The new route will be Delta’s third-longest after 8,433- and 8,127-mile flights to Johannesburg and Cape Town from Atlanta and push out the L.A.-Sydney route for the title of the airline’s longest.
Delta has recently made a major push to expand to Australia (these are the other flights)
“Delta is one of the largest airlines in the world and is consistently rated one of North America’s best carriers, so we’re thrilled to have them adding Melbourne to their network because of the opportunities it presents for Victorians and Victorian business,” Melbourne Airport CEO Lorie Argus said in a statement. “The new services will help bring hundreds of extra visitors to our state each week, which will help support Victoria’s world-class tourism, dining and hospitality venues.”
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A flight between L.A. and Melbourne was first launched by Delta codeshare partner Virgin in in 2017 but the route was discontinued when Australia introduced strict travel restrictions during the covid-19 outbreak in 2020.
In the past year, Delta has made a major push to expand its Australian network to compete with other U.S.-based airlines United and American Airlines (AAL) with a new flight from L.A. to the Queensland capital of Brisbane launched last December.
At the time, the new route brought the airline’s weekly number of flights between the United States and Australia to 17, while the three-times-a-week L.A.-Melbourne service ups it further to 20.
The expansion will mean that Delta now serves Australia’s three largest cities from L.A. and San Francisco, while United also flies to these from smaller and more inland U.S. destinations such as Houston, Washington and Orlando.
“This marks our most extensive schedule to the South Pacific to date, and as we build our presence in the region, we know our customers will enjoy the enhanced experience consistently provided by Delta,” Delta’s Senior Vice President of Network Planning Joe Esposito said in February 2024.
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