World's Longest Flight
 

Qatar Airways flight is longer Doha to Auckland.

Longest flight... Smallest Seat

10 across 777

Pity to the human body on this one!

And yet Poppa, EK don't seem to have any issues filling those seats, besides I'd happily endure it just to avoid the awful transit experience (just like the US of A) in BNE, SYD or MEL.

That flight isn't offical launched yet, it was an we would like too fly to Auckland. EK has offically launched DXB-AKL Non Stop from 1 March.

Hautney1 wrote:
What specifically is the problem with transfer process in SYD, MEL and BNE?
Genuine question. Hope for an unemotional informative reply so something can be done to improve the process.

Compared to Asia, it can be very slow and airports aren't designed as well as an transit point. Having to re-clear security, adds to the process which isn't done in some other transit points.

Better than being locked in a transit room with no food etc.

That's because when most Aus airports were designed, international transits were not seen as a very likely occurence, due to our geographic location (and the SYD centric dogma of Aus aviation). Even now, they make up only a tiny fraction of pax numbers, and so don't have a great deal of resources thrown at them. As for rescreening, whatever you think of the effectiveness or not of our screening process, if pax who have/have not been through the screening process of another country are to be allowed to mix with those screened to our requirements, then they too must be screened to our requirements. Whether other countries are happy to accept the intermingling is up to them. Every country applies screening rules differently, so I guess we are just trying to keep ours consistant.

Worth mentioning is United Airlines San Francisco to Singapore non stop.

Update: Changi Airport welcomes United Airlines' launch of direct flight to San Francisco, Transport - THE BUSINESS TIMES

At 15.5 to 16 hours it will be the longest B787 flight in the world.

I dont see how anyone can say international "transit" in oz is the same as the USA,
At least in oz, and the majority of other countries, your bags are checked through, and you go through security to your connecting gate.

Compare that to the USA, were everyone must clear immigration, collect their bags, re check bags and then go through security!

Also I think some people would prefer to fly on an A380, quieter, wider seats, and have a stop in oz enroute, than endure a 10 abreast 777 for 17 hours.

Hi Metro, from the perspective of travelling too and from NZ to places further afield, an east coast transit is a woeful or awful experience for the reasons previously outlined. Its also worth adding that SYD and MEL are particularly poor with small transit zones and what appears to be cronic under investment. The icing on the cake for the uninitiated is having your duty free grog confiscated despite having just stepped off the aircraft :hmm:
For me, with respect to either transmitting or going direct, I'd happily avoid stopping.
Transitting HKG or SIN is another experience entirely, far more pleasant and practical, you clear security to enter the gate area.
As for the comparison with the US, well quite simply the whole experience gives me a very similar impression to when I transit the US, perhaps a better description would be to call it "Diet US"
Boe, lots and lots of people don't want the hassle or niggle of having to get a transit visa, nor do they find it particularly enjoyable to have to get off for 90 minutes after just having got on.

HKG and SIN were once the transit ports, and seen as the gateways to Asia. Now with the rise of the ME carriers, and their home ports, that is changing rapidly. I read somewhere that SIN had dropped its transit pax handling charge to almost zero in an attempt to attract airlines back. The increased use of B787 and A350 types to allow ultra long point to points will probably render this futile.

Before that Shannon, Bangor Maine and Bahrain were important refuelling points as aircraft simply didn't have the range they do today.

The B747-400 was the game changer as it allowed the middle east to be overflown en route to Asia. Emirates quickly picked up on the fact that with modern aircraft, any point in the world could be reached non stop from Dubai. Therefore any two cities could be paired with a connection in Dubai. Obviously some routes weren't practical but the possibilities were immense.

The aviation landscape is continually changing, with the growth in China and SE Asia, SIN and HKG will be more important as regional hubs and less important as long haul transit points. SIN is building two new terminals and adding a third runway which is presently military only. HKG is expanding the airport and looking at a third runway. BKK, MNL and CGK are presently operating above design capacity.

HKG is becoming unviable as a transit hub due to airspace restrictions by China and the large amounts of traffic in and out of HKG and the other Pearl River Delta airports. Unless there is drastic airspace reform, the third runway won't help and besides, they will close one of the existing ones for major re-work after it opens, so I'm told.

I have been there a long time and the delays are just getting worse and worse. The place is a shambles in bad weather, which is common during its summer months.

3000 aircraft movements recorded in the Pearl River Delta one day last year with predictions of 5000 in a few years. 70% of traffic at HKG either heavy or super, A320/B737 are the C150 in the circuit and could quite conceivably be told to go to Zuhai or Macau once the bridge is finished.

Guangzhou being turned into a mini Dubai with cheap China Southern connecting flights all over the world, an already huge airport being further extended. New runway recently added.

New Shenzhen airport massive, taxiing feels like driving across a city.

Delays largely caused by Chinese military control of most of the airspace in China, they don't want to give up power but will eventually have to.

Back to the original thread
 

Would seam (rumour) that EK commercial dept. may have over stepped themselves.
The 200 LR's had the Nitrogen system for the Aux tanks removed some years ago (At commercials request as they were sure, would not use the aircraft on such long legs)
So Panama has been delayed and so will AKL at this stage while the blame game gets played.
Mr B has told them that no way can it be reinstalled.
Flt ops had not been asked for input before these announcements, commercial apparently working off the published figures/range for the aircraft with full fuel available.
May be AKL will start on the 1st March but will be with restricted load so can haul the fuel, or poss tech stop.
Watch this space.

isn't DFW/SYD longer ?

Great Circle Mapper:
SYD-DFW 7,454 nm
DXB-AKL 7,688 nm

I'm just curious how transit works in Oz. I've never transited in Australia as my start/end point is Sydney.

My impression was that when you left your arriving flight, you would enter the airside of the terminal (mixing with other departing passengers who have cleared immigration and security). Then at the appropriate time you made your way to the gate, went through security like other departing passengers, and boarded the plane.

I gather from the comments here that my impression is wrong. Exactly how does it work?