A Cross Sectional Study of the Ten Longest Ultra-Long-Range Air Routes

In recent times, several airlines have commenced the operation of ultra-long-range (ULR) services. Using a mixed methods research approach, this paper examines the aircraft deployment, the target passenger market segments, the aircraft cabin configurations, the flight stage lengths and the available seat kilometres (ASKs) produced on the world’s ten longest air routes. The study found that some airlines are operating ultra-long-range services on a hub-to-hub basis, whilst other airlines are operating these services to open new spoke city markets. The case airlines are targeting the premium and leisure travel market segments. The Boeing 787-9 is the most popular aircraft type for these services followed by the Airbus A380-800 and the Boeing B777-200LR aircraft. Qatar Airways Doha to Auckland service has the longest flight stage length (14,535 kilometres). The other 9 air routes all exceed 13,400 kilometres in length. The greatest number of annual ASKs are produced on the Emirates Dubai to Auckland services (5.09 billion ASKs) and the smallest number of annual ASKs are on the Qantas Airways Perth to London services (2.49 billion ASKs).