World’s longest flight spans over 9,500 miles and requires four pilots to operate

The longest flight in the world spans over a whopping 9,500 miles and requires four pilots onboard to operate it.

The flight was first launched in 2020 and offers the world’s longest nonstop plane journey.

This means it's no longer a necessity to endure a tiring layover when traveling across the globe thanks to the long-haul flight.

The flight is operated by Singapore Airlines (Urbanandsport/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

The specialist aircraft is run by Singapore Airlines and means that you can travel from Singapore all the way to New York without stopping.

The journey covers a distance of 9,537 miles and takes 18 hours and 40 minutes to complete.

In order to do this, the flight follows the great circle route, flying near the north pole as its the shortest distance between the two locations.

During the flight, passengers have access to fresh fruit and other snacks including buns and muffins, in between the meal services.

Talking to USA Today Travel, Antony McNeil, who is the food and beverage director for Singapore Airlines, explained why meal timing is so important on longer flights, saying: “The intention is that within three hours of departing, you've already started your first meal service.

“Then six, seven hours [later], the crew will come back, so midflight you're eating quite a large meal. If you want to sleep on departure, you know you're not going to miss out.

The journey takes 18 hours and 40 minutes to complete (d3sign/Getty Images)

“The meals that we offer at those times of the flight allow you to rest more comfortably. They're really designed to help you feel fuller for longer, so you're not looking for snacks.”

Meals served on a medium to long-haul flight with Singapore Airlines are complementary and include a variety of options.

You can expect to receive a main course and a bread roll as well as cheese and crackers and a desert.

Main courses in economy include things like fried beef and egg noodles in oyster sauce, choi sum and carrots or paneer korma paired with eggplant masala and basmati rice - which doesn’t sound too bad for economy.

However, while this nonstop flight is currently the longest in the world, it looks like it won’t hold that title for much longer.

This is because Qantas is planning to take that spot with their nonstop flights from Sydney to New York and London.

The Australian airline is set to introduce this new flight route in 2026 and the journey will take up to 20 hours each way.