United Airlines announces 18-hour flight from Los Angeles to Singapore
02 Jun 2017
United Airlines has announced an 18-hour flight from Los Angeles to Singapore. On approval by regulators, the 8,700-mile non-stop voyage would set a new record for the industry.
"It's the longest route from the US to anywhere in the world," United's vice president of International Planning, Patrick Quayle, told USA Today. "It's definitely prestigious."
The move comes after videos went viral in April that showed a passenger, later identified Dr David Dao, getting violently removed at the request of airline personnel. There were several other incidents, which included the story of a couple being de-planed on their way to their wedding in Costa Rica and the death of Simon the giant rabbit on a trans-Atlantic flight.
Dr Dao was seen being dragged off a United Airlines plane at Chicago O'Hare International Airport on 9 April in video shot by passengers on the flight.
Further, as recently as yesterday, the airline was attracting more social media turbulence after a passenger tweeted a video of fire issuing from a plane's engine. The Miami-bound flight was forced to land at O'Hare International, the same airport where Dao was assaulted just a few months ago.
Starting 27 October, the airline will fly a Boeing 787-9 nonstop from Los Angeles to Singapore, a distance of 8,770 miles, according to the website Great Circle Mapper.
The flight would be over 300 miles farther than the current longest US airline route, United's year-old flight from San Francisco to Singapore. It will be the longest Dreamliner route of any airline, and the world's third-longest on any aircraft. It will also be the longest flight from the United States to anywhere, and will also beat Qantas' nonstop from Dallas to Sydney.
According to commentators, the new nonstop flight will save time for many passengers since many North American travelers now needed to layover in Tokyo, Seoul, Hong Kong and Taipei to reach Singapore, one of the world's finance capitals.