Flight from New York may break the world record for the duration due to the need to fly around Russia
'30.03.2022'
Cathay Pacific is planning the world's longest passenger flight by rerouting its flight from New York to Hong Kong across the Atlantic rather than the Pacific, the airline said, on a new route that circles Russia. The Guardian.
The flight path will cover "just under 9000 nautical miles" (16 km or 668 miles) in 10 to 357 hours, Agence France Presse said.
On March 29, Cathay posted on its website a list of flights from New York in Hong Kong on April 3rd. Non-stop flight, the plane, he said, will be in the air for 17 hours and 50 minutes.
It will outperform a Singapore Airlines flight from the Southeast Asian city-state to New York, which travels a shorter distance over a longer time of about 15 km (343 miles) in 9534 hours.
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Cathay declined to give reasons for its flight path, providing a wide berth for Russian airspace through which it had previously flown.
Many airlines have canceled routes to Russian cities or avoided their airspace due to Moscow's incursion into neighboring Ukraine last month.
Russia also closed its skies last month to several European countries and all UK-related flights in response to a similar ban placed on them.
Cathay is seeking an overflight permit for a voyage that will pass through the Atlantic Ocean, Europe and Central Asia.
“We always run contingency routes for potential events or scenarios in the aviation world,” the Hong Kong flag carrier said.
According to them, the transatlantic option is more favorable than their usual Pacific route, due to "strong seasonal wind at this time of year."
Before the pandemic, Cathay operated three round-trip flights between the two cities each day.
Flights to Hong Kong are now frequently canceled due to the financial center's strict anti-covid measures, as well as a shortage of passengers.
Starting April 1, flights from the US and eight other countries will be allowed to land again in Hong Kong as the government eases some of the world's strictest Covid-19 restrictions.
