Cathay Pacific Airways Secures World’s Longest Flight As It Now Avoids Russian Airspace

The international community is increasingly isolating Russia for its invasion of Ukraine. The latest example is Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd. rerouting its New York-Hong Kong flight away from Russian airspace, making it the world’s longest commercial passenger flight by distance. 

According to a Cathay memo sent to flight staff and seen by Bloomberg, the New York-Hong Kong flight, using Airbus SE’s A350-1000, will be rerouted to avoid Russian airspace altogether. The new distance will total 10,326 miles for a 16-17 hour flight versus the old route across Russia that totaled 8,071 miles and take about 15 hours. 

Cathay’s new flight will supersede Singapore Airlines Ltd.’s Singapore-New York JFK flight, which was once considered the longest flight in terms of distance. 

“Such flight changes are likely to only be temporary given the costs carriers face from high oil prices and uncertainty over the accessibility of Russian airspace,” Bloomberg said, adding that other airlines are also rerouting flights away from Russian airspace.