SIA wants to become world’s longest nonstop flight operator again

Singapore Airlines is once again bracing to reclaim its coveted crown as the world’s longest nonstop flight operator in 2018. The airline has said that it is currently into talks with the aircraft maker Airbus for developing a long-range 900 series version of the new A350 aircraft.

Goh Choon Poon, Chief Executive of Singapore Airlines, said that the airline is eagerly looking forward to resuming its nonstop flights from Singapore to Los Angeles and New York, which it had to stop flying in 2013 because of the increasing fuel costs then. The airline had operated flights to both Newark Liberty International Airport and Los Angeles International Airport for nearly a decade utilizing its long-range four-engine Airbus A340-500 aircraft.

Goh said that the fuel prices made it uneconomical for operate very long flights because during the early stages of an ultra long-haul flight more fuel needs to be burnt by the aircraft. With few passengers on board, the flight becomes unprofitable. The cancelling of the routes also saw the U.S. airline ranking of Singapore Airlines fall significantly from fifth to ninth in terms of total capacity. Goh said that now that Airbus has agreed to produce an A350 aircraft, the airline is looking forward to relaunch both routes in 2018.

Singapore Airlines is presently serving the United States with one-stop flights. However, the overall duration of the journey to Los Angeles or New York has been extended by many hours. With the airline operating the new Airbus A350 aircraft, the airline will be in a position to complete nonstop flights to New York from Singapore in 19 hours using 25 percent less fuel.