How long is long haul
Join Date: Feb 2001
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In one of the companies I worked for it was defined under travel policy as >5hours. If you travelled long haul you travelled business class. Then someone realised they could save money by redefining it so that most of the travel to North America East coast fell below the definition.
I think the definition is pretty elastic, but I'd consider >6 hours as long haul.
I think the definition is pretty elastic, but I'd consider >6 hours as long haul.
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As per capetonian's response it tends not to be an exact science but rather something that individual airlines will classify, many even have short, mid and long haul, with flights of 5-6 hours being classed mid, while others may class that as long.
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I teach BTEC Travel and Tourism at a local sixth form college and the course books we use say that long haul is a flight over 6 hours - as has been said its an elastic definition but thats what we are teaching the students - yet BA flies the 777 with Club World etc to TLV which is only 5 hours? Who knows?!
Who knows?!
In BA the 777 is a longhaul fleet ( company definition) so LHR-TLV is a longhaul route.
OTOH if you use 6 hours as the cut then BOS-LHR on a 744 in winter (fast aircraft, strong tailwinds) could drop into shorthaul......
And as for JFK-LCY on an Airbus? Longhaul ( > 6 hours) or Shorthaul (shorthaul type)?
Definitely not an exact science.
Indeed, it depends on the way things are viewed by individual carriers. Easyjet is a short haul carrier but MAN-SSH can seem like long haul in the Winter. Meanwhile as someone has already mentioned BA LHR-TLV is treated as long haul.
However from a passengers point of view, anything above 5.5/6 hours is long haul.
However from a passengers point of view, anything above 5.5/6 hours is long haul.
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My understanding was
<4 hours - ShortHual
4 - 6 Hours - MidHaul
6> Longhaul
This would be based on the allocated flight time and not the actual flying time on the day. However there are always exceptions to the rule lol
<4 hours - ShortHual
4 - 6 Hours - MidHaul
6> Longhaul
This would be based on the allocated flight time and not the actual flying time on the day. However there are always exceptions to the rule lol
Join Date: Sep 2004
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I had informally considered long haul to be anything out of Europe, but that is just from a UK perspective - and it does of course, make the new Istanbul rail tunnel a long haul operation, together with the Tangier - Algeciras ferry!
Apparently TCX used 3hrs as the cut off between short and mid.
UK govt tax bands for APD start going up outside Europe, so there is some sense in that being seen as an informal boundary, and culturally there are differences between Europe and North Africa / Asia, but I felt just as much of a culture shock arriving in New York! However, for APD, Morocco is part of single European sky, and still 'short haul'.
In terms of travel promotion, long haul implies just that - a heavy, struggling bearing of load! The word 'exotic' might be more appropriate - but it is all relative to perspective. Bali might be an ultimate exotic destination to Europeans or Americans, but is it not just the regional equivalent of Malaga to an Australian, a Japanese or Chinese person?
Just my 2 rupiah.
Apparently TCX used 3hrs as the cut off between short and mid.
UK govt tax bands for APD start going up outside Europe, so there is some sense in that being seen as an informal boundary, and culturally there are differences between Europe and North Africa / Asia, but I felt just as much of a culture shock arriving in New York! However, for APD, Morocco is part of single European sky, and still 'short haul'.
In terms of travel promotion, long haul implies just that - a heavy, struggling bearing of load! The word 'exotic' might be more appropriate - but it is all relative to perspective. Bali might be an ultimate exotic destination to Europeans or Americans, but is it not just the regional equivalent of Malaga to an Australian, a Japanese or Chinese person?
Just my 2 rupiah.
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I always thought it was based on crewing
Short-Haul: The same crew could operate the return flight (Doesn't necessarily happen, but could)
Mid-Haul: Separate crews required for outbound and return flight
Long-haul: More than one crew required to operate outbound/return flight
Short-Haul: The same crew could operate the return flight (Doesn't necessarily happen, but could)
Mid-Haul: Separate crews required for outbound and return flight
Long-haul: More than one crew required to operate outbound/return flight
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Do I remember corretly that LHR-JFK on Concorde was classed as short haul due to the short time it took rather than the distance, and was crewed by shorthaul flight and cabin crew?
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Not forgetting Ultra Long Haul, when does that kick in?
There must also be a point when the rate of fuel consumption starts to go up massively because so much needs to be carried to use at the very late point in the flight. Obviously, shorter flights also less efficient due to losses in the take-off and landing cycle. Does anyone have a good graph of fuel consumption per mile v. sector length, say for a B777?
