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When the A340-500 was introduced, it was the world's longest-range commercial airliner. It first flew on 11 February 2002, and was certified on 3 December 2002. Designed for ultra long-haul routes, the -500 has a range 9,000 nautical miles, where the Boeing 777-200LR have a 8,555 nmi range.
The A340-500 sold 34 jets and the Boeing 777-200LR sold 59 jets. Only 11 of the A340-500 are still active and only 2 fly for an airline, as the rest are private (usually a head of state aircraft).
Quote:
Originally Posted by NW4me
.... for what would likely be just three customers (Qantas, Virgin Australia, British Airways) and only a few frames for each of them.
I think you are being slightly pessimistic. I am sure that a new generation of ultra long range planes will sell more than a hundred jets. Don't forget Air India, Singapore Air, Azerbaijan Airlines, and Heads of State who crave the longest range possible from an aircraft.
The Auckland to Doha route flown by Qatar Airways is 7,842 nmi using a Boeing 777-200LR as of February 2017is the current longest commercial flight.
On 24 March 2018, Qantas will begin nonstop flights between Perth and London-Heathrow using Boeing 787-9 aircraft. The flight will cover 7,829 nmi and last about 17 hours.[40] It will become the first regularly scheduled nonstop passenger flight to directly link Europe and Australia.
Singapore Airlines is the launch customer of the ultra-long range Airbus A350-900 ULR. To be delivered in 2018, the airplane will enable re-launch of non-stop flights from Singapore over 7,620 nmi) to Los Angeles and 8,287 nmi] to New York City, among other options. Seating will be reduced to around 170 to allow for more fuel to be carried, which can also allow the airline to serve other cities such as Toronto and Chicago in the future.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Milky Way Resident
I would take a layover any day, though it becomes problematic when you live in Australia and want to go somewhere in North America.
The original driver for ultra long aircraft when the widebody was only about 6 years old (40 years ago) was the desire to get from Australia to California without a fuel stop in Hawaii. I am sure that some people in the 1970's preferred to stop and stretch their legs.
I think I would want a stop in between as well. Maybe in Hawaii if I was coming from New York.
Great Circle Distances
JFK to SIN nonstop is 9,537 miles
JFK to SYD nonstop is 9,950 miles
A stop in LAX adds 13 miles to total distance JFK-SYD nonstop
A stop in HNL adds 100 miles to total distance JFK-SYD nonstop
While HNL may be much closer to halfway than LAX it is unlikely that you can change planes there. Basically LAX-SYD is the sixth biggest international route from LAX. Honolulu is a much smaller airport.
Hawaiian Airlines does fly to both New York–JFK, and Sydney Australia
JFK to HNL would be 11 hours and land at 3 PM
HNL to SYD would be another 11 hours but leaves at 12:45 PM
So you would have to spend the night in Waikiki, making your flight much longer
They'll need an in-flight crew change - cockpit and cabin. I believe pilots are limited to about 9 hours flight time per day. And cabin crew would be exhausted at the end of 20+ hours straight,
Maybe this is when they initiate a self-flying airplane?
Looking at the Qantas fleet
12 Airbus A380 8.1 Years average
10 Boeing 747 16.6 Years average
Qantas A380 routes
From & To Sydney
Dubai
London VIA Dubai
Los Angeles
Dallas
From & To Melbourne
Dubai
Los Angeles
Qantas B747 routes in last 30 days Los Angeles New York JFK New York JFK Los Angeles
Brisbane Los Angeles
Los Angeles Noumea Brisbane
San Francisco Sydney
Sydney San Francisco
Hong Kong Melbourne
Melbourne Hong Kong
Hong Kong Sydney
Sydney Hong Kong
Johannesburg Sydney
Sydney Johannesburg
Santiago de Chile Sydney
Sydney Santiago de Chile
The bottom line is that Qantas must replace the B747s in about 5 years at the most. They would prefer to have hubs in London and NYC/LAX because that is the final destination of most of their passengers.
If they get the plane than I suspect that the A380's will go to the following six routes.
Sydney to LAX/SFO/DFW
Melbourne to LAX/SFO
Melbourne to DFW or Sydney to Johannesburg
That way they won't have to stop in Dubai at all.
Last edited by PacoMartin; 09-02-2017 at 03:55 PM..
They'll need an in-flight crew change - cockpit and cabin. I believe pilots are limited to about 9 hours flight time per day. And cabin crew would be exhausted at the end of 20+ hours straight,
That's already true of today's long-distance flights. They carry two flight crews and two cabin crews. The off-duty crews can sleep in bunks located in the "crown" of the aircraft and accessed by hidden stairways.
The original driver for ultra long aircraft when the widebody was only about 6 years old (40 years ago) was the desire to get from Australia to California without a fuel stop in Hawaii. I am sure that some people in the 1970's preferred to stop and stretch their legs.
I got an unpleasant surprise when we looked at a trip to Australia; we thought it would be shorter from Hawaii, but instead, we have to fly to California, then to Australia. no direct flights. AAAAUUUGGGHHH!
I got an unpleasant surprise when we looked at a trip to Australia; we thought it would be shorter from Hawaii, but instead, we have to fly to California, then to Australia. no direct flights. AAAAUUUGGGHHH!
Jetstar (a low cost Australian airline that flies Boeing Dreamliners) had nonstops from HNL to Sydney and Melbourne. Cheap Flights | Jetstar
Hawaiian Airlines flies nonstop from HNL to Brisbane.
Flying to LAX and on to SYD doubles your flight distance.
HNL SYD - 5,067 mi nonstop
HNL LAX - 2,556 mi
LAX SYD - 7,488 mi
Total 10,044 mi
I dont sleep on a flight or a short term layover. There fore I prefer a long non stop to a two stage option. Longest non stop Ive taken thus far is 14 hours Houston to Tokyo.4 hour layover followed by 6 hour flight to Singapore. I am up 24 hours in transit. A non stop should save me 4 to 5 hours.
I dont fall asleep readily upon arrival in Singapore around midnight. But get up and go to work at 7am and eat an early dinner at 5pm then off to bep well and on local time by work day 2.
It seems I am only passengers who is up the entire flights.
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it's being done
