Skift Take
Business travelers love saving two or three hours of flying time. They'll surely love United's new nonstop. But for everyone else, 18 hours is a long time to spend on an airplane. Even a 787.
Want to spend 18 hours on a Boeing 787 flown by a U.S. airline?
You'll now have the chance, with United Airlines announcing Thursday it will launch what's likely the longest route ever flown by a U.S. carrier. Starting Oct. 27, United 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.
It's more than 300 miles farther than the current longest U.S. airline route — United's year-old flight from San Francisco to Singapore. When it starts, it'll be the longest Dreamliner route of any airline, and the world's third-longest on any aircraft. It'll also be the longest flight from the United States to anywhere, farther than Qantas' nonstop from Dallas to Sydney.
Passengers will fly 17 hours and 55 minutes westbound, and 15 hours 15 minutes eastbound. The new nonstop should save time for many passengers since many North American travelers now must layover in Tokyo, Seoul, Hong Kong and Taipei to reach Singapore, one of the worl
