Singapore Airlines to drop world's longest flights

Ben Mutzabaugh, USA TODAY | USATODAY

The title for the world's longest nonstop commercial airline flight appears set to change hands.

That comes after Singapore Airlines announced today (Oct. 24) that it plans to drop its nonstop flights that operate between Singapore and both Newark and Los Angeles. At distances of 9,525 miles (8,277 nautical miles) and 8,770 miles (7,621 nautical miles), respectively, the routes currently are the longest nonstops offered by any airline in the world.

Once those routes come down, flight information company OAG tells Today in the Sky that the new world's new longest routes will be Qantas' nonstop from Sydney to Dallas/Fort Worth (about 8,576 miles or 7,452 nautical miles) and Delta's route from Atlanta to Johannesburg (8,434 miles/7,329 nautical miles).

Singapore is making the route shake-up as part of a blockbuster order with Airbus for new aircraft. The order, unveiled today, calls for the carrier to buy five more Airbus A380 superjumbo jets and for 20 additional Airbus A350 aircraft, FlightGlobal.com reports. Reuters says the deal would be valued at $7.5 billion at list prices, though Singapore is sure to have secured the order at a significant discount.

As part of the deal, Airbus is buying back the five Airbus A340-500 jets currently in Singapore Airlines' fleet. Not coincidentally, those are the aircraft that the carrier uses to fly on its routes from Singapore to Newark and Los Angeles.

Reuters writes "the withdrawal of the A340-500s will result in the end of (those) non-stop flights."

"This major order will provide us with additional growth opportunities and is consistent with our longstanding policy of maintaining a young and modern fleet," Singapore Airlines CEO Goh Choon Phong says in a release announcing the carrier's order. "It demonstrates our commitment to the Singapore hub, and our confidence in the strength of the market for premium full-service travel."

Aviation Week says its data shows Singapore's "A340-500s are nearly nine years old."

Still, Goh says that the U.S. market remains a priority for Singapore Airlines.

"Although disappointing that we will be halting these services, we remain very committed to the U.S. market," Goh says in the release. "Over the past two years we have increased capacity to both Los Angeles and New York by deploying A380 superjumbos on flights via Tokyo and Frankfurt. We will also continue to explore additional options to enhance our U.S. services."

After the Newark flights end, Singapore Airlines will continue to fly from four U.S. airports — New York JFK, Los Angeles, Houston and San Francisco — though all of those routes will feature flights that first stop in Seoul, Hong Kong, Tokyo, Frankfurt or Moscow on their way to Singapore.

As for Singapore's newest order for the five additional A380s and 20 A350s, The Wall Street Journal notes "the carrier already has orders for 20 A350s due for delivery from 2015 and operates 19 A380-800 aircraft. The most recent orders are due to begin in 2017."

Aviation Week provides some additional background on Singapore Airlines' decision to get rid of its A340s. The publication writes "it is widely known in the industry that SIA's A340-500 non-stop flights to the U.S. are unprofitable, because of the four-engined aircraft's higher fuel burn."

Aviation Week says there also was some internal discussion at Singapore Airlines about the effort required to maintain such a small number of A340s.

And, in other fleet developments from Singapore Airlines, the carrier now says it will use the Boeing 787 Dreamliners it has on order for its low-cost unit Scoot.

Plane Talking blogger Ben Sandilands writes that "Scoot will use the jets to replace its recycled ex-Singapore Airlines Boeing 777-200s" beginning in 2014.