Xiamen Air has launched the longest nonstop scheduled flight in world history — New York (JFK) to Fuzhou, China — with a duration of 19 hours 20 minutes. This is the first time that the block time of a commercial route has exceeded 19 hours.
The route is especially important for the Chinese diaspora in New York: about 160,000 trips are made each year on this route. Travelers can now fly directly without connections, which saves a significant amount of time. The route was previously operated in 2017–2020, but was suspended.
For comparison, the previous leaders among ultra-long-haul flights, such as Singapore Airlines or Qantas, offered routes lasting up to 18 hours. Xiamen Air’s new record has changed perceptions of what modern long-haul routes are capable of.
