Is Cathay Pacific About to fly the World’s Longest Flight?

Cathay Pacific Airways could be on the cusp of the world’s longest passenger flight by distance.

Because the Russian invasion of Ukraine has resulted in a series of back-and-forth sanctions between Russia and the west that has included a prohibition on flying over each other’s airspace, many airlines have found it difficult to complete long flights without flying over Russia, the world’s largest country.

That would normally be the route Cathay Pacific would use between Hong Kong and New York.

But instead of flying over the Pacific ocean and over Russian airspace, Cathay Pacific is planning a Monday, April 3 flight that is rerouted over the Atlantic, according to Agence France Presse.

“We are always running contingency routings for potential events or scenarios within the world of aviation,” the airline said last week.

The new flight path would total 10,357 miles – a new record – in be in the air for 17 hours and 50 minutes, according to Cathay Pacific. Singapore Airlines still holds the longest flight time in the world at 18 hours for its Singapore to New York route, a journey that covers just over 9,500 miles.

The repercussions from the war, which started on February 24, have affected much of the travel world throughout the month of March.