Airlines deploy widebodies for short-haul routes amid operational demands

Cathay Pacific flies an Airbus A330-300 on the 85-mile journey between Hong Kong International Airport (HKG) and Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport (CAN). Cathay Pacific operates this route twice daily with its A330-300s.

TUI fly Netherlands deploys its Boeing 787-8 on a weekly flight between Queen Beatrix International Airport (AUA) in Aruba and Curaçao International Airport (CUR), spanning 74 miles. The airline does not have rights to transport passengers solely between these two airports.

Ethiopian Airlines services a short route of 72 miles between Douala International Airport (DLA) in Cameroon and Malabo Airport (SSG) in Equatorial Guinea using various widebody aircraft, including the Boeing 787-8, Boeing 787-9, and Boeing 777-200LR.

Brussels Airlines will operate an Airbus A330-300 on the same distance of 72 miles between Freetown International Airport (FNA) in Sierra Leone and Conakry's Ahmed Sékou Touré International Airport in Guinea throughout most of the year.

British Airways covers a distance of just over sixty miles using its Boeing 777-200ER on flights between VC Bird International Airport (ANU) in Antigua and Robert L. Bradshaw Airport (SKB) in Saint Kitts & Nevis twice weekly.

Two airlines operate flights on the world's third-shortest widebody route at Curaçao's Flamingo International: TUI fly Netherlands with its Boeing 787-8s and Corendon Dutch Airlines using an Airbus A350-900 leased from World2Fly.

Finally, Air Tanzania flies its Boeing 787-8 on what is currently considered the shortest widebody flight globally—43 miles—between Julius Nyerere International Airport (DAR) in Dar es Salaam and Abeid Amani Karume International Airport (ZNZ) on Zanzibar Island. Air Tanzania also uses these planes for longer routes across Asia and the Middle East.