List of flight distance records

This list of flight distance records contains only those set without any mid-air refueling.

Non-commercial powered aircraft + Sortable table Year Date Distance Pilot Aircraft Notes 2006 February 8–12, 2006 41,467.46 km Steve Fossett GlobalFlyer Single pilot (Steve Fossett) flight."FAI Record ID #13081 - Distance, C-Absolute (Absolute Record of classes C, H and M) " Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI). Retrieved: October 10, 2014.Fossett link 1986 December 14–23, 1986 40,212.14 km Richard Glenn Rutan and Jeana Yeager Rutan Voyager Circumnavigation. Fédération Aéronautique Internationale record holder up to 2006 (current class holder)."FAI Record ID #8391 - Distance over a closed course. Class C-1e " Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI). Retrieved: October 10, 2014. 1962 January 10–11, 1962 20,168.78 km (12532.3 mi) Major Clyde P. Evely and crew Boeing B-52H Stratofortress From Kadena AB, Okinawa, to Torrejon AB, Spain, via Tokyo, Seattle, Fort Worth, Washington and the AzoresTaylor 1966, p. 2. 1946 September 29 – October 2, 1946 18,083.6 km CDR Tom Davies pilot, Cdr. Eugene Rankin (co-pilot) and two crew P2V-1 Neptune From Perth, Australia to Columbus, Ohio, US 1944 July 2, 1944 16,435 kmImperial Japanese Army Air Service (Omata, Tanaka, Shimazaki, Sakamoto, Motimatsu, Habiro) Tachikawa Ki-77 From Xinjing to Baicheng, China (closed circuit) 1939 August 1, 193912,936 km (8,038 mi) Regia Aeronautica: Angelo Tondi, Riccardo Dogasso, Ferruccio Vignoni, Aldo Staiano Savoia-Marchetti SM.82 Closed-circuit world record 1945 November 20, 1945 12,739.6 km U.S. Army Air Forces; C. S. Irvine + crew of 9 Boeing B-29 Superfortress From Guam to Washington 1938 November 5–7, 1938 Royal Air Force Long Range Development Unit; R. Kellett, H.A.V. Hogan and A. N. Combe (first pilots) + crew of two (also qualified pilots) in each aircraft Vickers Wellesley From Ismailia, Egypt, to Darwin, Northern Territory, in Australia; three aircraft flew in formation, Hogan landed to refuel at Koepang (500 miles short of Darwin, Australia), the other two landed at Darwin, Northern Territory."Triple triumph" Flight 1938 1938 May 13–15, 1938 11,651.011 km Yuzoh Fujita + crew (Japan) Koken-ki Three-corner course over Japan. Closed-circuit record.Mikesh and Abe 1990, p. 91. 1937 July 12–14, 1937 Mikhail Gromov + crew (Soviet Union) Tupolev ANT-25 , California, US 1933 August 5–7, 1933 Maurice Rossi and Paul Codos (France) Blériot 110 F-ALCC From Floyd Bennett Field, New York to Rayak, Syria 1933 February 6–8 Royal Air Force Long Range Development Unit; O. R. Gayford and Gilbert Nicholetts Fairey Long-range Monoplane K1991 From Cranwell, UK, to Walvis Bay, South Africa 1931 October 5 8,851 km Clyde Pangborn and Hugh Herndon Bellanca CH-400 or Bellanca J-300 Long Distance Special Miss Veedol From Wenatchee Washington to Misawa Japan 1931 July 28–31 8,066 km Russell Boardman and John Polando Bellanca J-300 Special Cape Cod NR761W From Floyd Bennett Field to Yeşilköy Airport -present day Atatürk Airport-, Istanbul1929 December 15–19, 1929 8,029.44 km Dieudonné Costes and P. Codas Breguet 19 Super Bidon Point d'Interrogation Closed-circuit record.. 1929 September 27–29, 1929 7,905.140 km Dieudonne Costes and Maurice Bellonte Breguet 19 Super Bidon Point d'Interrogation Paris to Qiqihar, China."World's Records In Aviation". Flight, March 20, 1931, p. 247.1928 July 3–5, 1928 7,188.26 km Arturo Ferrarin and Carlo del Prete Savoia Marchetti S.64 From Montecelio (Italy) to Touros (Brasil). Distance in a straight line. FAI Database ID#9108 1927 June 28–29 3,862.43 km Albert Francis Hegenberger and Lester Maitland Fokker F.VII From California to Hawaii, the longest open sea flight up to that date, in the "Bird of Paradise". They received the Mackey Trophy and the Distinguished Flying Cross from President Calvin Coolidge for this achievement.Bird of Paradise 1927 May 20–21, 1927 5,809 km Charles Lindbergh Ryan NYP, Spirit of St. Louis Single pilot flight, New York to Paris.1926 October 28–29, 1926 Dieudonné Costes and Jean Rignot Breguet 19 GR From Paris–Le Bourget Airport to Djask, Iran.1926 August 31 – September 1, 1926 5,174 km Léon Challe and René Weiser Breguet 19 GR From Paris–Le Bourget Airport to Bandar Abbas.1926 July 14–15, 1926 4715.90 km André Girier and François Dordilly Breguet 19 GR From Paris to OmskGreen, Swanborough and Leyvastre 1978, p. 171..1926 June 26–27, 1926 4313 km Ludovic Arrachart and Paul Arrachart Potez 28 From Paris to Basrah, Iraq 1925 August 30–31, 1925 3,206 km CDR John Rodgers (USN) PN-9 Flying Boat From San Francisco and Honolulu by Seaplane over open water without visual navigational aides. 1925 August 7–9, 1925 4,400 km Maurice Drouhin and Jules Landry Farman F.62 Goliath Closed circuit Chartres–Étampes–Toussus–Chartres. 1925 February 3–4, 1925 3,166.30 km Ludovic Arrachart and Henry Lemaitre Breguet 19 Distance in a straight line record. Étampes–Villa Cisneros.Green, Swanborough and Leyvastre 1978, p. 170.. 1923 April 16–17, 1923 4,050 km Oakley G. Kelly and John A. Macready Fokker T.2 Closed circuit around Dayton, Ohio 1920 June 3–4, 1920 1,915.2 km L Boussoutrot and J Bernard Farman Goliath Closed-circuit record 1919 June 14–15, 1919 3,040 km John Alcock and Arthur Brown Vickers Vimy Flew non-stop from St. John's, Newfoundland, to Clifden, Connemara, in 15 hours 57 minutes 1914 February 7, 1914 1,699 km Karl Ingold Mercedes Aviatik-Pfeil He flew continuously from 7:35 am until 11:55 pm covering 1,056 miles in 16 hours and 20 minutes. 1903 December 17, 1903 279 m Wilbur Wright Wright Flyer 59 seconds 1903 December 17, 1903 39 m Orville Wright Wright Flyer 12 seconds 1852 September 24, 1852 27.36 km(17 miles) Henri Giffard The Giffard airship Over an hour

Commercial aircraft

YearDate Distance Pilot Aircraft Reference 2005 November 9, 2005 21,601 km Suzanna Darcy-Henneman, Richard Austin, John Cashman, Mathew Mathew, Frank P. Santoni Jr, Philip Schultz, Rodney Skaar Boeing 777-200LR Hong Kong International Airport to London Heathrow Airport the long way round taking 22 hours, 22 minutes 1997 April 2, 1997 20,045 km Frank P. Santoni Jr, Richard Austin, John Cashman, Charles Hovlano, Joseph McDonald, James McRoberts, Rodney Skaar Boeing 777-200ER Malaysia Airlines delivery flight from Boeing Field, Seattle to Kuala Lumpur International Airport in 21 hours and 23 minutes. 1993 June 16 to 18, 1993 19,246 km Pierre Baud, Gérard Guyot, Nicholas "Nick" Warner, Bernard Ziegler Airbus A340-200Set two new records as it flew an around the world route. First flying from Paris-Le Bourget Airport to Auckland, New Zealand in 21 hours and 32 minutes. After a 5 hour layover, the flight continued east-bound on a slightly longer route back to Paris-Le Bourget flying , covering a great circle distance of in 21 hours and 46 minutes. 2011 December 6, 2011 19,142 km Michael Carriker, Chad Lundy, Gregory McCann, William Roberson, Rodney Skaar, Christine Walsh Boeing 787-8 Boeing Field to Shahjalal International Airport, Dhaka, Bangladesh in 21 hours and 43 minutes on a trans-atlantic eastward route. 2020 April 14 to 15, 2020 18,209 km Boeing 777-300ER Virgin Australia ferry flight from Charles de Gaulle Airport to Brisbane Airport in 19 hours and 45 minutes; returning after evacuating French citizens from New Zealand due to the COVID-19 pandemic.2019November 14 to 15, 201917,750 kmBoeing 787-9Qantas Between London Heathrow Airport and Sydney International Airport in 19 hours and 19 minutes. 2013 June 6, 2013 17,312 km Airbus A330-200 Delta Air Lines ferry flight between Singapore and Atlanta in 18 hours and 34 minutes; returning from extensive cabin renovations. 1989 August 16 to 17, 1989 17,039 km David Massy-Greene Boeing 747-400 Qantas delivery flight from London Heathrow Airport to Sydney International Airport in 20 hours and 9 minutes. 2002 December 24, 2002 16,901 km Bruce Simpson, David Collier, Bruce Van Eyle, James Peach Airbus A330-200 Qantas between Toulouse and Melbourne in 20 hours 4 minutes. 2004 June 28, 2004 16,467 km Airbus A340-500 Singapore Airlines between Singapore and Newark, New Jersey, in a scheduled time of 18 hours 20 minutes covering approximately 16,600 km. It was the longest regularly scheduled commercial flight except until termination on November 23, 2013, and relaunch on October 18, 2018 until being surpassed in 2020.2019October 18 to 20, 201916,200 kmBoeing 787-9Qantas between New York and Sydney in 19 hours 16 minutes. 2003 November 5, 2003 15,300 km Boeing 777-300ER Boeing Company between Sydney and Recife, Brazil in 18 hours 25 minutes. ETOPS test flight. 2017 February 5, 2017 14,535 km Boeing 777-200LR Qatar Airways between Doha and Auckland in 16 hours 10 minutes, formerly the world's longest commercial flight. 2004 February 3, 2004 14,093 km Airbus A340-500 Singapore Airlines between Singapore and Los Angeles in 14 hours 42 minutes. 1988 September 17, 1988 14,042 km Boeing 767-200ER Air Mauritius between Halifax and Mauritius in 16 hours and 27 minutes. 2026 July 27–28, 2026 23,075 km 3 Airbus Test Pilots (Xavier Pepin as captain and two unknown) and 2 Qantas Pilots (Andrew Coull, David Summergreene) Airbus A350-1000ULR Nonstop test flight for Qantas' Project Sunrise from Melbourne eastwards across North America to Toulouse, taking 24 hours and 24 minutes.

Shortest distance The Loganair Westray to Papa Westray route and its return flight make up the shortest flight distance for any scheduled air carrier service. The route is 2.8 km (1.7 miles), and travel time, including taxi, is usually less than two minutes. The route is served by Loganair airlines' Britten-Norman Islander aircraft and links the island of Westray and the town of Kirkwall, on the Orkney Islands in Scotland. This record was established when service began in 1967, and the route is contracted to continue until March 2029.

Other types of aircraft Date Measurement Person Aircraft Reference January 21, 2003 3,008.8 km Klaus Ohlmann and Karl Rabeder Schempp-Hirth Nimbus-4 The gliding flight consisted of four legs along the eastern side of the Andes mountain range. The flight time of 15h 8m giving an average speed of almost exactly 200 km/h.FAI link to gliding records March 21, 1999 40,814 km Bertrand Piccard and Brian Jones Breitling Orbiter Distance record for a balloon January 31, 2015 10,711 km Troy Bradley and Leonid Tiukhtyaev Two Eagles Balloon Distance record for a straight gas balloon April 23, 1988 115.11 km Kanellos Kanellopoulos Daedalus 88 Straight distance record for Humanpowered aeroplane. This record was achieved by flying from Heraklion to Santorini Island for 3 h 54 min 59 sec.

See also Flight length Flight endurance record Cross-America flight air speed record Aerial circumnavigation Longest flights

Notes and references

References Green, William, Gordon Swanborough and Pierre Layvastre. "The Saga of the Ubiquitous Breguet". Air Enthusiast, Seven, July–September 1978. pp. 161–181. Mikesh, Robert C. and Abe, Shorzoe. Japanese Aircraft 1910-1941. London:Putnam, 1990. . Taylor, John W. R. Jane's All The World's Aircraft 1966-67. London:Sampson Low, Marston & Company, 1966.