Singapore Airlines Flight 21

Singapore Airlines Airbus A340-500

Singapore Airlines Flight 21, and return Flight SQ22, were the two longest regularly scheduled non-stop flights in the world, from 28 June 2004^[1] until they were discontinued on 23 November 2013.^[2]

The flights travelled between Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR) and Singapore Changi Airport (SIN), covering 15,344-kilometre (8,285 nmi) (SQ 21, EWR to SIN) and 16,600-kilometre (9,000 nmi) (SQ 22, SIN to EWR) in about 18 hours flight time.^[3]

Service

In June 2004, Singapore Airlines introduced Flight SQ21, using the Airbus A340-500 on a record breaking 15,344-kilometre (8,285 nmi) great circle route from Newark to Singapore, passing within 130 kilometres (70 nmi) of the North Pole.^[4] Taking a little over 18 hours, Flight SQ21 was scheduled to take off from Newark at 23:00 EDT (11:00 SGT) and land in Singapore at 4:05 SGT (16:05 EDT).^[5]

This non-stop scheduled-commercial distance was immediately surpassed by return Flight SQ22, which flew the still current (to April 2016) record 16,600-kilometre (9,000 nmi) back to Newark, on a route over Asia and Alaska.^[6] Despite the greater distance, Flight SQ22 averaged a slightly shorter 17 h 45 min due to assistance from prevailing high-altitude winds.^[7]

Aircraft configuration

The plane used for the Singapore-Newark route was an Airbus A340-500. It had 14 cabin crew and six flight deck officers, each working four-hour shifts.^[8]

The flight required 222,000 liters of fuel, 10 times the weight of the passengers. Critics said that while there would be reduced noise pollution due to a stop not being required, the nonstop flight would save little fuel due to the need to use more energy at the beginning of the flight to power its heavy load.^[8]

The airline said that this route would save four hours off a one-stop service. However medical experts expressed concerns regarding the 18-hour flight, in which passengers would breathe recycled air with a greater chance of picking up viral infections such as flu and colds on board. Furthermore, the heart and lungs would come under increased strain from a lower than usual supply of oxygen, with an enhanced risk of deep vein thrombosis (DVT) among people who fail to exercise frequently on board. The airline had installed special lockers on the aircraft to store the corpses of any passengers that died en route, since the flight's routing over the Pacific Ocean and the North Pole meant that there were few, if any, possible unscheduled stops.^[8][9]

Singapore Airlines originally offered 64 business class and 117 Executive Economy Class seats on this flight. SIA phased out the Executive Economy Class in favor of 100-seat all-Business Class flights in 2008.^[10]

Cancellation

In October 2012, Singapore Airlines announced that it would discontinue non-stop service to both Newark and Los Angeles in 2013. Revenue was no longer high enough to sustain the service and the routes were dropped in November 2013.^[11][12]

As part of a deal announced with Airbus, the airline would sell back its five Airbus A340-500 aircraft to the aircraft manufacturer while ordering 5 extra Airbus A380 and another 20 Airbus A350 XWB aircraft.^[13]

The airline continued serving Los Angeles via Tokyo-Narita as it had during the period with the non-stop flights, and while SIA no longer flies to Newark, it continues to fly to the nearby John F. Kennedy International Airport, with a stop in Frankfurt.^[14]

Relaunch

On 13 October 2015, Singapore Airlines announced that it had signed an agreement with Airbus to be the launch customer of a new version of the Airbus A350 XWB called the A350-900ULR (for "Ultra Long Range"), which according to the announcement would feature "all-new cabin products which are currently under development."^[15]

The airline intends to use the new planes to resume non-stop service from Singapore to New York (and Singapore to Los Angeles) in 2018, when the new equipment's deliveries would start.^[15]

Singapore Airlines also planned on flying nonstop to San Francisco with the Airbus A350-900 which launched on October 23, 2016.

Current SIA flights to the US

References