The Science Behind the World’s Longest Flights
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Re: The Science Behind the World’s Longest Flights
#2Re: The Science Behind the World’s Longest Flights
#3I love reading stories like this as commercial flying has always intrigued me. Geez, has it come a long way! Still remember a flight I had from Europe to Australia when it was such a novelty to smash alcohol cause it was so readily available and then going to the back of the plane to smoke!
Re: The Science Behind the World’s Longest Flights
#4I don't think anybody really enjoys long haul flights, but personally, I especially dislike them. I'd much rather break my flight up into A while back, I flew to Vietnam from New Zealand. My flight there was AKL-HKG-SGN (11h30m, 2h40m). My return flight was HAN-SGN-KUL-OOL-AKL (2h, 2h, 8h, 3h). Total flight time is about the same, but the total trip time including stopovers was 18 hours to Vietnam, and 24 hours on return. I found it so much more pleasant to be able to get off the plane, stretch my legs, and eat some real food every few hours. I really don't enjoy long flights at all and I don't think the couple of hours it saves is worth it. 4 hours is the limit for me being comfortable on a flight, after 8 hours I'm feeling quite uncomfortable but I'll manage, and 12 hours is the absolute limit for me for flying. 20 hours on a plane would be absolute torture.
I really don't see the point in these excessively long flights either, you usually have to layover somewhere anyway, these ultra-long flights are most often to a hub like DOH or DXB, where you then need to connect to your final destination.
Flying from Auckland to London, I'd much rather take AKL-HKG-LHR (12hr, 12hr) than AKL-DOH-LHR (18hr, 8hr). I'd even pay a premium of a couple of hundred bucks for it, although conveniently basically every option with one stopover from Auckland to London is about the same cost (I really don't know how it's profitable to fly from NZ to England for US$450 though, that's insane, I'm fairly sure freighting 100kg to London would cost more).
Re: The Science Behind the World’s Longest Flights
#5I don't think anybody really enjoys long haul flights, but personally, I especially dislike them. I'd much rather break my flight up into A while back, I flew to Vietnam from New Zealand. My flight there was AKL-HKG-SGN (11h30m, 2h40m). My return flight was HAN-SGN-KUL-OOL-AKL (2h, 2h, 8h, 3h). Total flight time is about the same, but the total trip time including stopovers was 18 hours to Vietnam, and 24 hours on re…
Agreed - if you fly Economy. For example, Asia to Europe it's quite pleasant to stop over in the Gulf (sorry, non-Gulf carriers :-)
However, if you fly Business (or even First), my, are these long flights pleasant.
Also, if you wish to minimise the number of take-offs and landings (eg out of a fear of flying, rational or not), non-stop flights are the way to go, obviously.
EDIT: s/direct/non-stop/g
Re: The Science Behind the World’s Longest Flights
#6I don't think anybody really enjoys long haul flights, but personally, I especially dislike them. I'd much rather break my flight up into A while back, I flew to Vietnam from New Zealand. My flight there was AKL-HKG-SGN (11h30m, 2h40m). My return flight was HAN-SGN-KUL-OOL-AKL (2h, 2h, 8h, 3h). Total flight time is about the same, but the total trip time including stopovers was 18 hours to Vietnam, and 24 hours on re…
Agreed - if you fly Economy. For example, Asia to Europe it's quite pleasant to stop over in the Gulf (sorry, non-Gulf carriers :-) However, if you fly Business (or even First), my, are these long flights pleasant. Also, if you wish to minimise the number of take-offs and landings (eg out of a fear of flying, rational or not), non-stop flights are the way to go, obviously. EDIT: s/direct/non-stop/g
As someone who also flies from NZ to London every now and then, I would love a non-stop flight from, say, London to Sydney, and then a short hop from there to NZ (the city I'm actually flying to couldn't handle a plane big enough to fly from London, sadly, so it's a minimum of one stop).
That would be quicker, I'd be able to optimise my sleep better, and at least in business class it would be reasonably relaxing. Also, some stops can be quite stressful - LAX, in particular, is awful (Sorry, Air New Zealand, but I'll probably never fly you again while you go through LAX!).
Also, several parents I've talked to would definitely prefer a single long flight to several shorter ones, given e.g., the stress of getting all your stuff + kids off and on the plane without losing them, the distress of ear pressure during takeoff and landing, etc.
Re: The Science Behind the World’s Longest Flights
#7I don't think anybody really enjoys long haul flights, but personally, I especially dislike them. I'd much rather break my flight up into A while back, I flew to Vietnam from New Zealand. My flight there was AKL-HKG-SGN (11h30m, 2h40m). My return flight was HAN-SGN-KUL-OOL-AKL (2h, 2h, 8h, 3h). Total flight time is about the same, but the total trip time including stopovers was 18 hours to Vietnam, and 24 hours on re…
I fly regularly from LON to NZ to visit family. I would also happily pay extra for the break in the middle. Hell I've even paid for business sometimes, since it's so bloody long.
I wish there was an overnight ferry option of flying, where the cabin is just bunk beds, like russian sleeper trains.
Re: The Science Behind the World’s Longest Flights
#8I'd prefer no break, but then I am pretty used to sleeping and reading on long flights, and no break lets me manage my time better.
When I was a kid, QF1 was 36 hours Sydney->London, with stops at Singapore, Bombay, Bahrain, and Frankfurt. Though it was fun to get off the plane briefly I would happily have avoided them even back then. Now even one stop is generally intolerable.
Re: The Science Behind the World’s Longest Flights
#9I don't think anybody really enjoys long haul flights, but personally, I especially dislike them. I'd much rather break my flight up into A while back, I flew to Vietnam from New Zealand. My flight there was AKL-HKG-SGN (11h30m, 2h40m). My return flight was HAN-SGN-KUL-OOL-AKL (2h, 2h, 8h, 3h). Total flight time is about the same, but the total trip time including stopovers was 18 hours to Vietnam, and 24 hours on re…
I fly regularly from LON to NZ to visit family. I would also happily pay extra for the break in the middle. Hell I've even paid for business sometimes, since it's so bloody long. I wish there was an overnight ferry option of flying, where the cabin is just bunk beds, like russian sleeper trains.
I’ve long yearned for a flight where we just lay down the whole time, stacked. I’ve envied everyone who could ever sleep in a sitting position.
Re: The Science Behind the World’s Longest Flights
#10Earlier quoted context omitted.
I fly regularly from LON to NZ to visit family. I would also happily pay extra for the break in the middle. Hell I've even paid for business sometimes, since it's so bloody long. I wish there was an overnight ferry option of flying, where the cabin is just bunk beds, like russian sleeper trains.
I’ve long yearned for a flight where we just lay down the whole time, stacked. I’ve envied everyone who could ever sleep in a sitting position.
I'd pay more for a flight where they just sedated me in advance and I woke up at my destination.