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US's longest one-stop flights see new routes amid shifting international airline strategies

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US's longest one-stop flights see new routes amid shifting international airline strategies
Policy
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Goh Choon Phong, Chief Executive Officer | Singapore Airlines

Very long one-stop passenger flights involving the United States have received limited attention, despite their significance in global air travel. According to data from OAG, between August 2025 and February 2026, the ten longest one-stop routes touching the US have maximum block times ranging from 19 hours and 40 minutes to over 24 hours.

The longest of these is Singapore Airlines flight SQ26 from Singapore to New York JFK via Frankfurt, which has a maximum scheduled time of up to 24 hours and 20 minutes. This service uses a Boeing 777-300ER and operates daily with fifth freedom rights. It replaces a previous record-holder: Singapore Airlines’ former route from Singapore to Houston Intercontinental via Manchester, which operated until March 2025 with a block time of up to 26 hours and 15 minutes.

Other notable entries include Qantas’s QF4 from New York JFK back to Sydney via Auckland (23 hours), and United Airlines’ new Los Angeles-Bangkok service (UA820) via Hong Kong at just over 22 hours. United will begin operating this route daily on a Boeing 787-9 starting in October. Another recent addition is United’s seasonal Houston-Ulaanbaatar flight (UA7) via Tokyo Narita, launched in May 2025.

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Air India appears twice on the list due to ongoing airspace restrictions that require its San Francisco-Mumbai (AI180) and San Francisco-Bengaluru (AI176) services to stop in Kolkata for refueling or crew changes on return journeys. These stops began in May 2025 after previously stopping in Vienna; both routes had been nonstop before those changes.

United also features several times with new or resumed routes through its Tokyo Narita hub—acquired as part of its takeover of Pan Am’s Asia-Pacific network in the mid-1980s—which continues to serve as an important connecting point for transpacific traffic.

Hainan Airlines rounds out the top ten with its weekly Seattle-Haikou flight (HU446) via Chongqing, which started operations in September 2024.

The market between Los Angeles and Bangkok remains large but challenging for airlines due to long distances and relatively low premium demand. Over one million round-trip passengers traveled between the US and Thailand in the year ending May 2025, with more than 195,000 traveling between Los Angeles and Bangkok specifically.

Singapore Airlines continues its presence as an operator of some of the world’s longest flights. While it no longer serves Houston Intercontinental via Manchester—a route that helped fill premium cabins by targeting energy-related traffic—it maintains its long-standing Singapore-Frankfurt-New York JFK service using various widebody aircraft types over three decades.

### FACTS FOR STEP 3 ###

Recent adjustments by Air India reflect ongoing international airspace issues affecting routing efficiency for ultra-long-haul flights.

Los Angeles remains a leading origin city for high-volume transpacific markets such as those connecting to Southeast Asia.

United's expansion into Ulaanbaatar marks further growth into underserved destinations using established Pacific hubs like Tokyo Narita.

Singapore Changi Airport continues as a central hub for full-service carrier operations since Singapore Airlines' founding in 1972.

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