The longest airplane routes. The longest flights in the world. The busiest ferry service in the world

Literally from the first moments after the birth of aviation, a race began that continues to this day for victory in speed, duration, range, flight altitude and carrying capacity. Among the first world record holders for the longest air travel was the famous Louis Blériot, who made a record flight across... the English Channel on July 25, 1909.

First records and record holders

There are dozens of names on this list. Among them is the legendary American Charles Lindbergh, who crossed the Atlantic for the first time in May 1927 and Soviet pilot Mikhail Gromov, who together with his crew made a non-stop flight from Moscow to San Jacinto (California) on an ANT-25 aircraft. It took place in November 1937. The range record then was almost 10,150 km.

The spirit of aerial competition has not faded into the 21st century. Today, world records in aviation are more of a routine thing, which, as a rule, is carried out by the world's leading air carriers. True, it is worth noting that the actual production of “record holders” - long-haul passenger aircraft, is exclusively the destiny of a few leading industrial powers possessing modern technologies.

Flying Marathon Club

Its undoubted leader is the Boeing company with its famous 747. Over the years of operation, since February 1969, 1,527 vehicles were produced in four modifications. The maximum flight range belongs to the Boeing 747-8 - more than 14,800 km.

The Boeing 787 Dreamliner is rightfully considered its “direct successor”. It began making regular commercial flights 6 years ago. During this time, the company sold 565 aircraft in three versions – 8, 9, 10. The longest “jump” was made by the Boeing 787-9 – 14,140 km.


The main competitor of the “American” is the European concern Airbus, a joint brainchild of France, Spain, Great Britain and Germany. In April 2005, serial production of the largest passenger airliner, the Airbus 380, began, capable of carrying (depending on the version) from 525 to 853 passengers over a range of over 15,000 km. Over 12 years, the company produced 213 cars.


Russia's participation in this prestigious club looks more than modest. The country is represented in the singular by IL-96. Since the start of operation in 1993, the Voronezh Aviation Plant has produced only 30 aircraft in three versions - 96-300, 96M/T and 96/400. The Russian range record belongs to the Il-96/400 – 12,800 km.

Who is further and longer

The main ultra-long-distance routes of civil air lines connect Southeast Asia And North America. On average, their length is over 12 thousand km, and the travel time exceeds 15 hours.


Today the most long flights on airplanes around the world are carried out during regular commercial flights. So the company's Boeing 777-200LR Qatar Airways On February 6 of this year, he covered a distance of 14,535 km along the Doha-Auckland route in 17 hours and 40 minutes.

But this is not the limit. Singapore Airlines is ready to offer a truly record-breaking flight from New York to Singapore on the Airbus A340. Its length will be 15.5 thousand km, which may take about 20 hours. In this case, passengers and crew will become participants in several world records at once. This will be the longest non-stop passenger flight without refueling.


The largest Russian air carriers are not among the world record holders for flight range. Today, the longest flight from Moscow is on the Moscow-Los Angeles route (Aeroflot company). Its length is 10,100 km, and the travel time is more than 12 hours.

Recently Emirates airline set a record for flight duration by announcing a direct flight between Dubai and Panama that will last a whopping 17 hours and 35 minutes. The flight, which will be launched on February 1, 2016, will shift the current leader - the flight of Qantas Airlines - to second place.

between Dallas and Sydney with a total flight time of just under 16 hours.

In light of this news, travel experts at KAYAK.ru have compiled a list of the longest nonstop flights from Europe and the Asia-Pacific region and shared tips on how to prepare for the long flight.

To transport passengers to the most remote corners globe the most in a convenient way, that is, by plane, it takes a lot of time. Today, the longest flight in the world is operated by Qantas from Sydney to Dallas, and the longest long flight from Europe belongs to AirFrance with the route Paris - Santiago de Chile, travel time - 14 hours 40 minutes. The flight to Santiago is also the longest for passengers traveling from Madrid on Iberia. The flight takes 13 hours 30 minutes, which is 1 hour less than the flight from Paris.

Alitalia operates the longest non-stop flight for Italian travellers, from Rome to Buenos Aires in 13 hours 55 minutes, just 5 minutes shorter than Lufthansa's 14 hour flight from Frankfurt on the same route. British airline British Airways also flies to the Argentine capital: its planes cover a distance of 11,136 km in 13 hours 45 minutes.

Now South America- one of the favorite destinations among Europeans. However, from Russia and Poland the most long flights are carried out in the direction of the United States of America. The constant development of aircraft technology in the future will allow travelers from all over the world to conquer more and more remote places of our planet.

If you have a long flight from one end of the world to the other, you will be faced with long hours in the air, which cannot be avoided even during non-stop flights, but need to be filled with something. To help travelers survive a flight that lasts almost an entire daylight hours, KAYAK.ru experts have prepared a list useful tips and life hacks.

Choose your flight time wisely: If you usually have trouble sleeping on a plane, book a day flight. This way you can go to bed when you arrive and avoid a sleepless night.

Choose your seat on the plane in advance: Check in for your flight on time to be able to choose the best comfortable spot in the cabin. In most cases, online check-in opens 24 hours before departure, so set a reminder on your phone and book your seat as quickly as possible. If the flight is short, perhaps seat on the plane does not matter so much, but on long flights, an uncomfortable seat can cause a lot of inconvenience. For example, you probably won't want to sit sandwiched between two other passengers or in the aisle next to the toilet, making it impossible to fall asleep.

Take everything you need with you: Before a long flight, be sure to think about what you will wear. Clothing should be, above all, comfortable. Use the principle of multi-layering so that you can take off or, conversely, put on something at any time, depending on the temperature in the cabin. Take with you everything that will help you relax and fall asleep: a sleep mask, earplugs/soundproofing headphones, a scarf and an inflatable pillow. It's also handy to have a toothbrush, comb, and deodorant on hand to help you feel fresh during and after your flight.

Think of something to do during the flight: To prevent the movie collection on board from becoming your only entertainment during the flight, take an interesting book from home with you, download your favorite music, films and TV series. Take what you like to do in free time- you'll see, long hours in the air will fly by unnoticed.


The transport sector also has its own records and achievements, as well as its own Kunstkamera - unusual routes and flights. In this review we will tell you about the 10 most remarkable flights in the world operated on different types transport: air, land, water, etc.

The shortest scheduled passenger flight

The world's shortest regular passenger flight is a flight between Westray and Papa Westray airports in the Orkney Islands in Scotland. This route connects two small nearby inhabited patches of land in the North Sea. At the same time, the duration of the flight in the air is only 47 seconds, and the flight as a whole, including taxiing, takeoff and landing, is 2 minutes.



Westray and Papa Westray airports are within easy sight of each other, just 2.6 kilometers apart. Regular flights between them are provided by the Scottish company Longair, and the cost of a round trip flight is 17 pounds sterling.



Interestingly, the population of Papa Westray Island is only 70 people. However, flying to it is consistently popular - the island thanks a huge number Historical and archaeological sights are favored by tourists.

Shortest international passenger flight

The distance between the cities of Vienna and Bratislava is only 60 kilometers; you can get from one locality to another by car, bus or train in less than an hour. However, from April 2015, flyniki plans to launch regular flights between the capital of Austria and Slovakia.



Airplanes flying between Vienna and Bratislava will be in the air for just 10 minutes, making it the shortest international passenger flight in the world.



Many observers have great doubts about the feasibility of this flight, because it is possible to get between these cities by land faster than by air, given the need to travel to and from the airport, go through security and wait for landing. Apparently, the flyniki airline is thus going to attract Bratislava passengers to flights from Vienna, for whom this flight will become an intermediate flight.

Longest nonstop passenger flight

In turn, the longest regular passenger flight is the flight between the cities of Singapore and Newark (USA), operated by Singapore Airlines. The Airbus A340 aircraft covers a flight of 15,345 kilometers in 18 hours 40 minutes in one direction and 18 hours 50 minutes in the other.



Interestingly, the distance of 15,345 kilometers is approximately equal to the length of the Eurasian continent from the westernmost point to the easternmost.



Considering the duration of the flight, Airbus airliner The A340, which flies between Singapore and Newark, is equipped exclusively with business class seats, allowing passengers to rest and sleep well during the long journey.

The world's longest railway route

Until 2010, the world's longest passenger by rail the Kharkov-Vladivostok train was considered. This train, launched back in 1957, covered the distance between the end points in 7 days, 7 hours and 34 minutes, covering 9,714 kilometers. Moreover, separate cars from Kyiv, Donetsk and Dnepropetrovsk were also connected to it, which further increased the travel distance.

But in 2010, this train was canceled due to the low number of direct passengers. The new record holder was the train traveling along the Moscow-Vladivostok route. This train covers 9259 kilometers in 7 days and 10 hours.

Longest freight rail route

Where direct passenger rail transportation over long distances may not be in demand, there is often a place for freight trains. The most clear evidence of this appeared in December 2014, when a new record-breaking train appeared on the world map. We are talking about a cargo train that started on November 18 in Chinese city Yiwu and finished twenty-one days later in Madrid, covering a distance of 13 thousand kilometers and eight countries along the way: China, Kazakhstan, Russia, Belarus, Poland, Germany, France and, in fact, Spain.



A freight train brought more than a billion dollars worth of Chinese goods to the Spanish capital. In order not to go back empty, the train carried Spanish wines, butter, jamon and other products to China.



The Yiwu-Madrid train will operate on a regular basis in the future. This record-breaking and important route has already been given the nickname “New Silk Road” or “Silk Road of the 21st century”. The possibility of converting this cargo flight into a passenger flight is also being studied.

The smallest metro in the world

The city of Catania is interesting not only because it is the administrative center of the island of Sicily. In that locality there is also a unique transport system– the shortest metro line in the world.



The Catania metro was put into operation in 1999. The first and only line since then consists of 6 stations, and its length is only 3.6 kilometers. The construction of the next stage of the metro is hampered by a lack of funding - Catania, like the whole of Sicily, is one of the poorest regions of Italy.



In the existing one this moment The metro line isn't much use. A little more than 11 thousand passengers use this type of public transport per day, despite the fact that the population of Catania is 315 thousand people.

Street elevator to another area

We are accustomed to the fact that elevators serve as a means of transportation inside multi-story buildings. But there are regions where these structures are quite popular urban vehicle. Most often this happens in cities with difficult terrain, for example, in Lisbon. But the most unusual and beautiful street elevator appeared in 2013 in Pamplona, ​​the capital of the Spanish province of Navarra.



This street elevator connects two urban areas separated by a steep slope with a height difference of thirty meters. Previously, residents there had to take a detour, but now communication between neighboring streets has become much easier, at least for pedestrians and cyclists.



After all, where just a couple of years ago you had to spend half an hour walking around, now you can go down or up in just a few seconds on a street elevator.

The cable car as the main form of urban transport

Georgia is also a country with a rather complex mountainous terrain. However, it does not boast amazing street elevators, but the ubiquity of cable cars, which are found in many large and small cities of this state. But the small village of Chiatura stands out especially against the general background, where such vehicles are the main form of urban transport.



Chiatura is a mining town sandwiched between several mountain peaks. Moreover, the city center is located at the bottom of the gorge, and the main residential areas are scattered along the neighboring slopes and mountains. Due to the terrain features of this locality, passenger road transportation is poorly developed, and therefore the main type public transport There are cable cars in Chiatura.



Today, there are 10 lines in the city cable car, and previously there were even more - 17. At the same time, most sites use incredibly outdated equipment, which has been in continuous use since the fifties of the twentieth century. There is a legend that it was the absurdly shaped metal trailers from Chiatura that became the prototype for the famous Pepelats in the film “Kin-Dza-Dza” by Georgian Georgy Danelia.

The busiest ferry service in the world

New York also cannot boast of ideal terrain. However, in this metropolis, the obstacle to moving from one point of the city to another is not the mountains, but bodies of water - the Hudson River and others. Therefore, one of the most important forms of urban transport in New York is ferries.



Moreover, for the Staten Island area, the ferry is generally the only possible means of transport to get to the rest of New York - there are no bridges or tunnels leading to this island.



It is therefore not surprising that the Staten Island Ferry is considered the busiest ferry service in the world. It operates 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. This line carries an average of 75 thousand passengers per day, which gives a record 27 million people per year.

The smallest tram line

In 1989, in the Crimean village of Molochnoye near Yevpatoria, a tram line was opened, which is the shortest in the world. The length of the entire route is only one and a half kilometers; it connects the Beregovoy boarding house with the seaside beach.



However, this tram can be used not only by holidaymakers vacationing in Beregovoe, but also by everyone, which makes this tram system a full-fledged form of public transport. True, this tram is operated only in the summer, during the tourist season.


Hooray. My old dream came true - to ride on the Singapore - New York flight. This is the longest flight in the world, and, probably, in the history of civil commercial transportation in general. It flies for 18-19 hours (depending on the wind at the flight level), without any landings at all, with one gas station, 16 thousand kilometers from point to point.

// Or rather, the longest one is its “sibling”, i.e. The return flight from New York to Singapore is 15 minutes longer, the wind blows like that up there :)

“De jure” the flight to New York is only 5 and a half hours: the plane departs at 12:30 in the afternoon and arrives at 18:00 in the evening of the same day. Yep, you guessed it right - departure is on Singapore time, and arrival is on Eastern American time. But it still sounds more optimistic than “eighteen hours in an iron can... with Singaporean flight attendants” :)

Well, on such an optimistic note, you can load yourself into this flying unit. This route is operated by specially adapted Airbus A340-500s. It takes only 100 passengers, there is no economy - all seats are business class only.

Well, here we go......

13:02 - acceleration.
13:03 - we are flying.

The plane accelerates and takes off slowly, heavily, and slowly. “A barrel with kerosene, a tail and wings,” I thought. This is true. According to Wikipedia, 220 thousand liters of kerosene are poured into this barrel. Probably half of the luggage compartment is a huge additional fuel tank.

220 thousand liters for 100 travelers plus crew - that’s almost 2 thousand liters for each snout!! Oh, it’s a little embarrassing to fly on this board, which spits out irreplaceable Natural resources... Well, what should we do? We need to fly...

It was precisely because of suboptimal fuel consumption and rising oil prices that Singaporeans decided to cancel this flight - the company stops flying on this route on November 23 of this year (2013), i.e. in about a week! Read more “Why the longest flights are saying So Long” in Bloomberg Businessweek on paper or.

We were lucky - in a few days this flight will be canceled forever, and we... And we! We made it to the very end of this fantastic air marathon. “Caught by the tail,” said my random travel companion T.T. (That’s him in the photo at the airport just above).

13:30 - we are still gaining altitude, we fly for half an hour - but we have only climbed 7 thousand. meters.
(here, above and further I indicate the time at the departure point).

Singapore and the northeastern United States are almost opposite each other in longitude, so it seems like flying - to the right of north pole through Japan-Kamchatka-Alaska or to the left of it, through Siberia, Scandinavia and Greenland. Or rather, on the contrary - in reverse order. NYC - Greenland - Northern Europe— rushed to the southeast...

By the way, Singapore Lines seem to be the only airline that covers the whole world in a circle. From them there are flights west to Houston (Singapore-Moscow-Houston) and east to New York. Oh how! The Malaysians also seem to be trying to catch up with them - I once saw a Malaysian board in Buenos Aires (!!)

14:05 - we’ve been flying for an hour, towards Japan and Kamchatka (hurray!). Another 17 hours to fly...

What to do all this time?? - anyone will be horrified normal person(a normally flying person... or rather, a normally non-flying person). The first thing is to get into the mail and process all the letters that have fallen on me over the past few days (“on the ground” I don’t have enough time to do this, I’m clearing out debris on airplanes). And then - bummer! The battery was low, and the sockets in my chair and the one next to me turned out to be non-functional! Figase Singapore Airlines, famous for their quality of passenger service... I had to run to recharge at the tail of the plane, where it turned out free place with a working socket (I was too lazy to change seats from my already heated seat) :)

15:10 - fed something tasty from Southeast Asia...

15:50 - we fly over Manila.

16:15 - the second battery in the laptop died (the first one was immediately half empty, that’s why it happened so quickly). I watched some Hollywood garbage with a stupid plot, idiotic texts, directorial mistakes, etc. I thought, if this is being filmed, does that mean some unfortunate people are watching it? On such a sad note, I started watching (and in some places just skipping) the second Hollywood drama :)

18:55 — we fly over Tokyo.

And then transfer to another flight, towards the American outback... Until the next reports, everyone!

Air travel helps you get to any corner of the planet relatively quickly. An airplane will take you to your desired location in less time than a train or car. But it’s one thing to spend a night or a day in a comfortable compartment where you can lie down, and another thing to spend in an airliner seat. It is long, tiring flights that scare off travelers, because living for half a day in a sitting position is extremely difficult. Let's try to figure out how to make it easier to endure an airplane flight.

How long is the longest plane flight?

A long flight is a non-stop flight over a distance of 12 thousand kilometers. Such flights are called “non-stop”. Typically these are flights between South Asia and the North American continent. For example, the longest passenger flight today is from Los Angeles to Bangkok: it takes almost 18 hours, the board covers 14 thousand kilometers. But the longest airplane flight in the world took place on December 10, 2005: it flew 21,602 kilometers from Hong Kong to London in 22 hours and 40 minutes.

Longest flight from Moscow

From the capital of Russia you can fly anywhere, even to Sydney - The largest city Australia. But at least one transplant will be required. The longest non-stop flights from Moscow are to Guangzhou and Los Angeles. The flight to these cities is almost the same - about 12 hours.

How to make long flights easier - tried and tested tips

Having analyzed numerous reviews from travelers, we can safely give you some tips that have proven their effectiveness in practice.

To safely endure a long flight and quickly adapt to new conditions, you need:

Now let's take a closer look at each of these tips.

Choose a good seat in the salon

Flight comfort largely depends on how comfortable your seat is and in what part of the plane it is located. We do not take into account business class, which is initially more comfortable than economy class.

If you plan to sleep most of the flight, it is better to choose a window seat. If you plan to move around the cabin frequently, sit near the aisle. The toilet seat is fraught with potential odors and passengers scurrying past you.

It is better for parents with small children to sit near the partition. It will protect you from your neighbors, and your neighbors from you. But for single passengers or passengers with bulky hand luggage, such seats will be inconvenient.

Kill time by sleeping

Sleep is the best way to kill time on a long trip. Especially if the main part of the journey falls at night. Of course, it is rarely possible to sleep through the entire flight, but it is quite possible to shorten it by sleeping and at the same time relax.

However, falling asleep in a crowded cabin is not so easy. Sleeping pills, sedatives or accumulated fatigue will help here. Therefore, before a long flight, it is better not to rest on purpose. Another good option is headphones with music for relaxation or regular earplugs, which will remove external noise and allow you to quickly immerse yourself in the arms of Morpheus.

If you don’t have headphones, try to just relax, get all thoughts out of your head, drink hot tea or some alcohol. Ask the steward for a blanket and a pillow, if you didn’t take them with you, make yourself as comfortable as possible.

A sleep mask that will protect you from light will not be superfluous. At night, the lights in the cabin are not turned off completely; this may not be enough for some passengers. In addition, your neighbors’ gadgets can be additional sources of bright light. The mask will help protect against such irritants.

What to do before, after, or instead of sleeping on an airplane is a question that interests many. Passengers are often entertained with films or background music, and magazines are provided. But the entertainment offered may not suit you, so it’s better to stock up on your own. To do this, you can pre-download your favorite music, several films or books.

It’s also better to have your own headphones. If headphones are provided on board, their quality leaves much to be desired. Plus, they may simply be uncomfortable and your ears will quickly begin to hurt.

Maintain personal hygiene

Between 12 and 17 hours, any person has a normal desire to freshen up. Naturally, you won't be able to take a shower. But you will have to visit the toilet a couple of times. It doesn't hurt to have several packs of wet and dry wipes with you. They will help out both in the toilet and in the chair.

You can brush your teeth in the toilet, but it is better to do this with a personal toothbrush. There is no point in hoping that the stewards will hand out disposable ones; this is rather an exception to the rule. We do not recommend shaving on board. The toilet is public, and this procedure is not entirely hygienic in such conditions. Plus, sudden turbulence can have unpleasant consequences while shaving.

Wear comfortable clothes

During the flight, the cabin can become cool, and sitting for long periods of time inevitably causes swelling. Therefore, clothes and shoes should be as comfortable as possible.

Take warm clothes with you to the cabin, even if you are flying in hot weather. At flight altitude there is a low temperature, the heating and air conditioning systems of the ship cannot always cope with it. Also try not to wear constricting items: elastic bands, belts, drawstrings. They will put pressure on the body when swelling begins. And sooner or later it will definitely begin.

For the same reason, use removable shoes. We do not advise women to fly in high-heeled shoes. Spending more than 10 hours of flight on them will be sheer torture. Feel free to change into slippers, flip-flops, or at home wear comfortable sneakers with orthopedic soles. You will certainly appreciate their comfort.

Eat properly

First, try to eat less spicy, fatty, or spiced foods. This is fraught with unpleasant consequences. Such food will cause thirst, and excessive fluid intake will quickly lead to swelling. Secondly, eat little and a little at a time, mostly fresh fruits or vegetables, dry cookies, fitness bars. They will not cause a feeling of overeating and heaviness in the stomach, and there will be no gastrointestinal upset.

During a multi-hour flight, passengers are fed at least twice, not counting small snacks. Drink clean water, do not indulge in sugary carbonated drinks, coffee, or alcohol. They can cause nausea, and excess alcohol can cause dehydration, headaches and even nosebleeds.

move more

Movement is life, and sitting in a chair for many hours, even a soft one, causes discomfort. The body must move, otherwise the muscles will begin to become numb and ache, and cramps may begin. People with back pain have a particularly difficult time sitting for long periods of time. Try to move periodically. Stretch your neck, hands, shoulders, lower back. Get up and walk around the salon. If you don't move, you risk simply not getting out of your chair upon arrival. Then you will have to be escorted out of the plane by the arms.

The stewards will show you exercises that are best done in flight, or you will find them in the visual instructions in the front seat pocket. You can also download a set of exercises on the Internet yourself and familiarize yourself with it before the flight.

Prepare to fight dry air

Another unpleasant feature of long flights is the harsh microclimate in the cabin. Because of large cluster Carbon dioxide causes the air to become too dry, so the body needs more moisture. Dry air can cause dizziness, dry nose, chapped lips, and thirst.

How to deal with this? It’s very simple: drink whenever you feel thirsty and the discomfort associated with it. Don’t be embarrassed to often ask the steward for drinks, or better yet, plain water. But also remember that excess fluid in the body leads to the formation of edema.

Appropriate pharmaceutical drops will help prevent dry mucous membranes of the nose and eyes, which it’s a good idea to take with you. And the skin will be refreshed by the above-mentioned wet wipes or washing in the toilet. Here it’s time for women to think: is it worth doing makeup before a flight, or is it better to take care not of beauty, but of health?

Know what to do if your ears get seasick or blocked

Dry air is not the only problem in the cabin; there are also pressure differences. They cause headaches and stuffy ears. This is especially felt when the plane gains altitude or falls into air pockets, sharply decreasing. In such a situation, use a simple and proven method - open your mouth. The pressure in the blood vessels and the pressure of the external environment will equalize, and the ears will stop blocking. Try not to cough. A sharp sound and a gust of air can cause pain in the membranes. Also be careful with earplugs. When pressure changes, they can cause ear pain. For this reason, it is better to take headphones on a flight whose ear pads fit tightly to your ear and provide passive noise insulation.

Great discomfort in flight causes problems with the vestibular system. Those who have a weak one usually get motion sickness on an airplane. You can save yourself from nausea using different methods: breathe deeply, distract yourself with a movie or conversation with a fellow traveler, eat something sour (for example, candy), drink water, take a sedative or special medications that relieve nausea. But the best cure for motion sickness is sleep. During sleep, the human brain calms down and does not send false signals to the body.

Take on board only the things you need

For travel with a long flight, all advice boils down to the main thing - take the minimum hand luggage. There is no need to drag a lot of things into the chair with you, thinking that you will need them. This is wrong.

Here is a list of what you might need on a plane:

compact but roomy bag;

 

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