jmgriffin

I know there was some interest in a few of the past top 10 lists I've complied and posted (mostly in the Travel Buzz thread) but I thought that you guys might be interested in this one as well. While most of this info can be easily found on the Delta website, I'm really more of a visual learner so I wanted to map them all. What do you guys think? Are there any I'm missing?

If you're interested in the source content feel free to check it out here: Weekend Blitz - Top 12: Longest Non-Stop Delta Flights in the World ...but there's no need if you're not, I've put the post in it's entirety here below. Hope you guys enjoy!

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I was browsing Wikipedia the other day looking for a ranking of the top US Domestic airlines based on passengers carried and came across this:


I had no idea that Delta was the largest airline in the world as of 2012! This got me thinking: what are Delta’s longest non-stop routes? This installment joins the others I’ve complied including:

• Top 7: Longest domestic US flights
• Top 10: Longest Domestic Flights in the World
• Top 10: World’s longest non-stop flights

Top 12 Longest Non-Stop Delta Flights

1. Johannesburg-JNB –> Atlanta-ATL comes in to take the lead with an 8,439 mile journey on a Boeing 777-200LR. JNB-ATL is scheduled at 16 hr 55 mins, however, the reverse route is only 15 hr 25 mins. This is currently the 2nd longest non-stop flight in the world!
   
   
   
   
   
2. Dubai-DXB –> Atlanta-ATL is scheduled at 15 hr 44 mins of flying and covers 7,599 miles on Delta’s Boeing 777-200LR.
   
   
   
   
   
3. Los Angeles-LAX –> Sydney-SYD is operated on a B777-200LR for a 15 hr 00 min flight. Total miles = 7,488.
   
   
   
   
   
4. Detroit-DTW –> Shanghai-PVG is on a, you guessed it, Boeing 777-200LR. The 7,137 mile flight is scheduled to take 14 hr 40 mins. Note: Sample dates I found price the flight at around $1,100 if booked through codeshare partners China Eastern and China Southern, but the price is near $1,900 if booked through Delta.
   
   
   
   
   
5. Atlanta-ATL –> Tokyo-NRT is one of Delta’s very few Boeing 747-400 routes covering 6,850 miles over a period of 14 hr 20 mins. Of the 16 B747 planes remaining in Delta’s fleet, 0 were purchased by Delta–all 16 of them were inherited when they merged with Northwest Airlines in 2010.
   
   
   
   
   
6. New York-JFK –> Tokyo-NRT is just marginally shorter than the ATL-NRT route at 6,745 miles. It is also flown on a B747-400 and is scheduled to take 14 hr 05 mins.
   
   
   
   
   
7. Detroit-DTW –> Seoul-ICN takes 13 hr 50 mins to fly the 6,636 mile route on a Boeing 747-400.
   
   
8. Detroit-DTW –> Beijing-PEK comes in at 6,631 miles. The 13 hr 45 min flight is operated by Delta’s Boeing 777. Note: codeshare partners China Southern and China Eastern price this flight at $1,102 but on the same dates Delta prices it at $1,890.
   
   
9. Detroit-DTW –> Nagoya-NGO = 6,552 miles and takes 13 hrs 25 mins on a B747-400.
   
   
   
   
   
10. Seattle-SEA –> Hong Kong-HKG is one of the newer Delta flights and comes in at #10 on the list. An Airbus A330-200 covers the 6,500 mile trip in 14 hr 11 mins. Service beings June 16, 2014 (link to article).
    
    
    
    
    
11. Detroit-DTW –> Tokyo-NRT is coded as flight # DL 275 and is scheduled to take 13 hr 35 mins on a Boeing 777. Total distance covered is 6,397 miles.
    
    
12. Minneapolis-MSP –> Tokyo-NRT switches between an Airbus A330-200 and Boeing 777. The distance of 5,950 miles is covered in 12 hr 50 mins.

Other Notable Mentions

• Lagos, Nigeria-LOS –> Atlanta-ATL = 5,843 miles and 13 hr 30 mins on a B767.
• Seattle-SEA –> Shanghai-PVG = 5,722 miles and 13 hrs 25 mins on a A330.
• Tel Aviv-TLV –> New York-JFK = 5,677 miles and 12 hr 05 mins on a B747.
• Los Angeles-LAX –> Tokyo-NRT = 5,451 miles and 11 hr 40 mins on a B747.
• Seattle-SEA –> Beijing-PEK = 5,407 miles and 12 hr 05 mins on a B767. Cheap prices now = $724.
• Seattle-SEA –> Seoul-ICN = 5,216 miles and 11 hr 10 mins on a B767. Service begins June 2, 2014.
• Accra-ACC –> New York-JFK = 5,111 miles and 11 hr 44 mins on a B767.
• São Paulo-GRU –> Detroit-DTW = 5,094 miles and 11 hr 00 mins on a B767.
• Paris-CDG –> Salt Lake City-SLC = 5,080 miles and 11 hr 20 mins on a B767.
• Rome-FCO –> Atlanta-ATL = 5,036 miles and 11 hr 10 mins on a A330.
• Istanbul-IST –> New York-JFK = 5,016 miles and 11 hr 06 mins on a B767. Seasonal service only.

Discontinued longest non-stop Delta Flights

• Mumbai-BOM –> Atlanta-ATL was discontinued in 2009. It used to be the 2nd longest flight in the world and Delta’s longest flight overall at 8,510 miles. It was flown on a Delta B777-200LR. Scheduled flying time: 17 hr 55 mins!
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Detroit-DTW –> Hong Kong-HKG was cancelled in August 2012. This was Delta’s 2nd longest flight for a while taking 15 hr 45 mins on a B777-200LR. The journey covered 7,857 miles, which means it would have ranked near the 11th or 12th longest flights in the world today.
  
  
• Mumbai-BOM –> New York-JFK ended in October 2008, right around the time the Mumbai-Atlanta flight was announced. At 7,790 miles it also would have ranked around the 11th or 12th longest in the world taking 16 hr 00 mins on a B777-200LR.

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Again, the full post can be found here for those that are interested! http://weekendblitz.com/top-12-longe...flights-world/

GRALISTAIR

Bookmarked - very useful info. Thanks for the summary.

DLFan2

Nice work! Thanks.

MSPeconomist

Very interesting. This one should be added to the sticky with useful threads at the top of the DL forum. You might want to suggest this to the mod who maintains that thread.

How many miles are the west coast non stops to AMS and CDG? Are any of these, from SEA/SFO/LAX operated on DL metal?

Also on the TATL side, how does SVO compare to the IST flight?

I remember taking JFK-Osaka on a PMNW 747 when it was said to be the longest scheduled flight ever at 12 hoours and 26 minutes. IIRC this was in the day of the old airport, before KIX was open.

IIRC ATL-EZE is about the same distance as MSP-NRT, or do I remember the miles for MSP-ATL-EZE, which of course ins't nonstop? How about the flights from ATL to Santiago, Chile?

If you want to count direct flights, MSP-(NRT)-SIN is one of the longest, as would be ATL-(LAX)-SYD and LAX-(ATL)-EZE, but these all tend to have aircraft changes even though sometimes the aircraft type is the same, like on MSP-NRT-SIN with the 777 currently. At times the same 777 does ATL-LAX-SYD.

Beckles

I first started flying Delta for work in about 1996, I remember around that time they were the first airline to ever carry over 100 million passengers in a year (and by extension, they carried the most passengers of any airline). At some point after that and before industry consolidation kicked into high-gear Southwest passed them in passengers carried (but not passenger-miles, another measure that can be used), and as the data you pointed out shows, Southwest has now dropped back a few spots behind the consolidated legacy carriers.

Deemus7

Interesting info! Now the question becomes this: have any FT'ers flown on all 12? I've only done LAX-SYD...

DLATL777

I find it very humorous that people quote block times as flight times. ATL-JNB is NOT 15 hours 25 minutes and JNB-ATL is not nearly 17 hours.

I take these flights often in different seasons and my longest ATL-JNB was 14 hours 55 minutes and JNB-ATL was 16 hours and 5 minutes. My variation is also very small, my shortest/longest are only separated by 10 minutes. This is actual flight time.

Further I also did ATL-BOM and that was never 17 hours.

jrkmsp

I have three of 12, as well as a couple of the honorable mentions.

baccarat_king

SFO and LAX-AMS are KLM metal (I "think" SFO is currently an MD-11).

PDX-AMS is definitely DL metal, and I'm pretty certain that SEA-AMS is also Delta metal.

MSPeconomist

I have 6 of 12, plus one noteable mention, and one discontinued long route from the list.

GRALISTAIR

I hang my head in shame with a big fat ZERO.

CO IAH-EZE is my longest in length and ATL-HNL on DL my longest in time. Looking forward to my first TPAC this year.

NotHamSarnie

Great stuff, thanks.

I've done 3 of the longest and 2 of the notables. It really surprised me to see FCO-ATL in there... somehow it doesn't feel as long as the others.

jmgriffin

Thanks for all of the positive feedback! Glad everyone is finding this interesting....

I've considered going with actual flying time but when you look at DL 201 JNB-ATL you'll see varied durations based on real life conditions: https://flightaware.com/live/flight/DAL201

For example, a few data points from the past few months:

16:06
15:47
16:25
16:20
17:25
17:59
16:07
16:02
16:04
15:53

I've considered looking at a quick average over the past few days but it seems like too much work so I have just decided use whatever the airline publishes as scheduled flying time. It's not perfect but does a decent job at comparing apples to apples.

pbarnette

Thanks to the OP. Fun thread. I have not done any on the DL top 12 list, but have done LAX-SYD with VA. I've also done LHR-SIN, which clocks in around the same as DTW-ICN. Will take DTW-NRT and NRT-MSP next month, though. One thing of note is what versatile aircraft the A332 and 763 are - it gives some insight into why DL is willing to wait on the 787.

All the TATL flights from SEA are operated by DL, rather than partners. SEA-CDG clocks in at the same as JFK-IST. SEA/PDX to AMS are shorter.

Shorter by a fair bit. Flat maps are highly distortive of distances.

Both are less than 5000 miles. SCL is slightly closer, due to being closer to the same longitude.

tjhorner

Have done 6 of 11...... not counting SEAHKG since it hasn't been flown yet. Plus I've flown DTWHKG.