Summary Emirates’ five longest flights connect Dubai to Dallas-Fort Worth, San Francisco, Houston, Los Angeles, and Auckland, all over 8,000 miles in length.
The carrier uses a variety of aircraft on its ultra-long-haul routes, including the Boeing 777-200LR and the Airbus A380.
From its hub at Dubai International Airport, Emirates truly connects the world with service to all six inhabited continents. Better yet, all of its flights are conducted using spacious widebody aircraft, including the double-decker Airbus A380. So what are the airline’s five longest flights this month?
This list ranks routes operating for the month of August 2023, using straight-line (great circle) distances. As a result, it does not calculate the additional distance flown due to airspace bans. As a result, true rankings may be different, with flight times giving the best sense of rankings in the current operating environment.
What airspace bans?
While we’ve had to discuss the fact that bans from Russian airspace (and the all-important Siberian corridor) have forced many airlines to fly longer distances, but this has not applied to Emirates.
Indeed, an examination of the flight paths of our five longest routes shows that four traverse Russian airspace on their way to destinations in the United States. It’s unsurprising this is the case, however, as the United Arab Emirates has taken a somewhat neutral position on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. This allows for the country’s airlines to not only fly through Russian airspace but also continue to serve Russian destinations. These include Moscow and St. Petersburg.
This ability has indirectly drawn criticism from others in the industry. Scott Kirby, CEO of United Airlines, touched on the subject at the 2023 IATA AGM. According to Live From A Lounge, Kirby stated:
It’s clearly a big impact to us. Pre-pandemic, we were almost going to five flights a day between the US and India, for example, and now we fly one, and it’s an extra two hours. We literally can’t fly the other four routes, even when taking extra time. That’s disappointing, but that’s part of being the largest airline in the world and being the flag carrier of the United States.
Photo: United Airlines
With United Airlines having a partnership with Emirates, many saw Kirby’s reluctance to name any specific airlines as a strategic move to keep his partner airline happy. Still, this does appear to be a reasonably uneven playing field when talking about connecting North America with the Middle East and South Asia.
Concluding this particular topic, it’s worth noting that Emirates aircraft have to adjust their flight paths slightly to avoid the active war zone that is Ukrainian airspace. Now, let’s jump into the routes.
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#5. Dubai – Dallas-Fort Worth (EK221/222)
Direct distance: 12,940 km (8,040 miles)
Average duration outbound: 15 hours and 10 minutes
Average flight duration inbound: 14 hours and 08 minutes
Aircraft type used: Boeing 777-200LR
Photo: Soos Jozsef / Shutterstock
At the
Globe-spanning: Emirates Longest Flights For August 2023
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