singapore Airlines going for longest flight record again

[Paul_Smith 92]

A press release today reports that Singapore Airlines are attempting to regain the longest scheduled flight record by restarting the Singapore-New York route with seven new A350-900ulr's. They used to fly the same route with A340-500's. 

When PMDG get bored redoing Boeings, there is a big market out there waiting to be tapped.

[MarkW 1,490]

I would have thought this was a job best suited for the 787.  Does anyone know if the 787-8 or 787-9 can fly this distance?

[JRBarrett 3,048]

53 minutes ago, MarkW said:

I would have thought this was a job best suited for the 787.  Does anyone know if the 787-8 or 787-9 can fly this distance?

The published range of the A350-900ulr is 9,700 nm, while the 787-9 is “only” 7,635 nm.

[jzimmermann 238]

Hi Mark,

Boeing originally gave specifications for the 787 with a 8,200 nm range.

Several websites state that the longest range 787 variant can fly between 8,000 and 8,500 nm.

The Boeing BBJ 787-8 has a 9,945 nm range with a configuration for 25 PAX.

Cheers,

Jerome

[Paul_Smith 92]

Current long haul flight contenders are listed here:

https://www.cnbc.com/2018/05/30/singapore-airlines-to-launch-worlds-longest-flight--to-new-york.html

 

[FalconAF 213]

I always wonder about these long-haul flights.  Pay either $10,000 for a First or Business Class ticket with a reclining bed, or sit in an Economy Class seat for 19 hours collecting blood clots in your lower extremities.  😊

[Woozie 732]

31 minutes ago, FalconAF said:

I always wonder about these long-haul flights.  Pay either $10,000 for a First or Business Class ticket with a reclining bed, or sit in an Economy Class seat for 19 hours collecting blood clots in your lower extremities.  😊

They dont even have economy seats in this 350-900ULR, only business and premium ECO. 19 hours in premium eco still isn't fun but at least you can move your legs a bit after being strapped into the seats 😉

[FalconAF 213]

True.  But if I sit in my recliner at home for 19 hours you'd still need a crowbar and spatula to get me out of it.  🤪

[Woozie 732]

Whats even worse: As a tall guy, once you did your first long haul in business class, you are spoiled for the rest of your life 😕 I'd rather forgo a long haul if i cant find a nice business class offer.

I would never pay full price though but there are some really interesting (albeit very limited) offers available. I'm going to fly LSZH-VHHH-LSZH in a couple of weeks in Swiss 777 Business Class for 1600$ in total for both flights. Standard price would be about 8000$ which is just crazy

[FalconAF 213]

There's a reason it's called Business Class.  The passenger's company is most likely paying for the ticket price.  And the cost is just passed on to the company's customers.

Unless someone is independently wealthy, they aren't paying for Dad, Mom, and the 3 kids to fly Business Class (let alone First Class) to Disneyland anymore.  Those days ended a long time ago for the average "vacation" flyer. 

[scandinavian13 5,192]

8 minutes ago, FalconAF said:

Unless someone is independently wealthy, they aren't paying for Dad, Mom, and the 3 kids to fly Business Class (let alone First Class) to Disneyland anymore.  Those days ended a long time ago for the average "vacation" flyer. 

Yeah, that or a flight deal, or an odd time.

I got a killer ticket price for first (737 domestic, so...business-ish, in reality) on the redeye back from LAX earlier this month. So worth it...especially because I rolled right into my day as soon as I landed (after getting a 15 min cat nap when I got back home).

[FalconAF 213]

A few months ago a friend of mine I was stationed with in the Air Force years ago asked if I'd help him drive a handicap van he bought in California back to his house in Denver with him.  I said sure, I'm retired with no real schedule anymore.  We drove it to his house and he used some of his "business credit card mileage points" to "buy" me a ticket to fly back home to Las Vegas.  He drove me to the airport, took me to the "VIP" check-in, then said have a nice flight home and left.  I got to the gate and found out he had upgraded me to First Class.  For a 1 hour 20 minute flight including gate and taxi time. One way.  On a small Airbus, so First Class wasn't all that impressive to begin with.  I looked it up on the airline's website and it would have cost $680.  On a Tuesday night, departing Denver at 10 PM.  There were only 6 other people in the First Class cabin with me at the time.  Economy was only about 1/2 full. I got a free drink and an itty bitty bag of pretzels that were gone in 5 bites. 😄

I called him the next day and cussed him out for spending that much "money" to get me home.  He said don't worry about it.  His company let's HIM keep his frequent flyer miles even though they reimburse him for the trips he does for work, and my ticket didn't even put a dent in his mileage points.  Last summer he took his wife to Hawaii for 10 days and his points paid for their First Class round trip airfare, hotels, rental car, and just about everything else. 

The average family today couldn't afford to do any "luxury" flying anymore without taking out a second mortgage on their house.  😂

Edited October 17, 2018 by FalconAF

[scandinavian13 5,192]

14 minutes ago, FalconAF said:

I got to the gate and found out he had upgraded me to First Class.  For a 1 hour 20 minute flight including gate and taxi time. One way.  On a small Airbus, so First Class wasn't all that impressive to begin with.  I looked it up on the airline's website and it would have cost $680.  On a Tuesday night, departing Denver at 10 PM.  There were only 6 other people in the First Class cabin with me at the time.  Economy was only about 1/2 full. I got a free drink and an itty bitty bag of pretzels that were gone in 5 bites. 😄

One of my friends is a spin instructor, and the company she works for puts up pop-up studios in random 'fun' spots in the summer and winter. Last winter, they sent her to the Aspen pop-up. My dad had passes that were expiring so I flew out Christmas night, rode with her the next morning, and then flew back home - first class on all 4 flights (IAD-DEN; DEN-ASE; ASE-ORD; ORD-IAD). First class on the CRJ7 for the 40 min to ASE seemed a bit excessive. It was nicer the next day back to ORD, as I was the only one up there, and the FA had snacks (and wine) for a full first cabin. I wasn't awake enough on the ORD-IAD leg to specifically comment, but I guess that's a comment in and of itself...

[captainsazzman 83]

On 10/9/2018 at 11:37 AM, Paul_Smith said:

A press release today reports that Singapore Airlines are attempting to regain the longest scheduled flight record by restarting the Singapore-New York route with seven new A350-900ulr's. They used to fly the same route with A340-500's. 

When PMDG get bored redoing Boeings, there is a big market out there waiting to be tapped.

not gonna happen for the time being

[1290SASRider 26]

When the company commercials us internationally they're required by our contract to do it in business class or better. I'm sure it's a requirement they'd like to negotiate out of the next one (whenever that happens...).