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I don't know if there's an accepted definition or not. I used to consider it being anything that was so long that it couldn't be accomplished by a narrowbody plane, meaning maybe 7 or 8 hours minimum. But that doesn't work as well now, given the long range of the A-321. I'd probably still say 8 hours, because that's a typical flight across the Atlantic Ocean from the East Coast, which conceptually feels "long haul" to me.
If the plane has just a small-ish cockpit and a single crew (of pilots, I mean) and that crew does not take a rest break or swap out with others - then it's probably not a long haul. This is routinely the case in the USA, coast to coast - five or six hours, still not long haul. Narrow body, weak first class, bored pilot.
Note there is no official definition here - and where it is "official" by an airline, it will be different from another airline.
Safe to say though, 1000 miles and under is not long haul and 3000 miles and over usually is.
If the plane has just a small-ish cockpit and a single crew (of pilots, I mean) and that crew does not take a rest break or swap out with others - then it's probably not a long haul. This is routinely the case in the USA, coast to coast - five or six hours, still not long haul. Narrow body, weak first class, bored pilot.
Note there is no official definition here - and where it is "official" by an airline, it will be different from another airline.
Safe to say though, 1000 miles and under is not long haul and 3000 miles and over usually is.
I definitely see this.
Every transatlantic flight from the east coast I've taken has had in-flight entertainment and full meal service. Cross-country flights are less likely to have that, and I have done DC-SF flights without seatback screens or meal service. I agree with about 3000 miles. East coast to Iceland flights are also more of mid-haul, as some airlines run them without inflight entertainment.
If you cross the Atlantic frequently it does not seem long haul.
But those 13-14 hour Pacific flights might qualify as long haul.
But ... if you count stops, then long-haul takes on a different meaning altogether. Once spent 54 hours en route from Raleigh to Washington-Dulles to Frankfurt ( 13 hour layover ) to Johannesburg to Cape Town.
I would be thinking more than about ten hours. Such as the Dubai to Sydney ordeal!
I guess it is longer when the big cities are far apart the way they are in Australia.
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