From an 80-mile hop to a 19-hour marathon: The Airbus A350’s shortest and longest flights

The Airbus A350 has become one of the most versatile widebody aircraft in commercial service, with its airline operators putting it to work on missions that range from less than an hour to – in the near future – almost an entire day.

That versatility has been demonstrated by two developments this year – the first of which is taking place this week when Qatar Airways introduces an A350 on a route that covers only around 80 miles.

The shortest Airbus A350 flights in service

Qatar Airways is operating an Airbus A350-900 on its Doha-Bahrain service on 12 and 13 August.

The 90 mile (80nm or 150km) sector ranks among the shortest commercial flights operated by any widebody aircraft, and is reminiscent of Emirates’ ultra-short-haul flights using its Airbus A380 around the Gulf. 

Qatar Airways’ deployment is one of the shortest A350 operations in the history of the aircraft. The airline has until now used its Boeing 787, which is a similar size to the A350, on this route. 

However there is one mission involving an A350 that is even shorter: Ethiopian Airlines’ leg from Geneva to Lyon comes in at just 60 miles and is the shortest A350 scheduled service. 

Tagged onto the flight from Addis Ababa, the route takes just 45 minutes. The inaugural flight took place last month and the service will operate three times a week. 

Those two routes are far from the only short legs operated by the twin-aisle aircraft.

Asia leads way with A350 short-haul trips

Asia stands out as a region of the world where short-haul A350 scheduling is most common. 

Both Singapore Airlines and Ethiopian Airlines deploy their Airbus A350-900s on the short journey between Singapore and Kuala Lumpur, which is only around 180 miles (295km).

Elsewhere, Air India used its first A350-900 on domestic routes for crew familiarisation and regulatory requirements before its introduction on long-haul services.

The carrier’s inaugural flight, AI589, operated from Bengaluru to Mumbai over a distance of around 500 miles, taking 1hr 45min.

Japan Airlines (JAL) also continues to deploy its Airbus A350-900 fleet across its domestic network.

The aircraft is used on routes from Tokyo Haneda to destinations including Fukuoka, Osaka and Sapporo, with the Haneda–Osaka sector covering only around 300 miles (520km). 

JAL’s domestic A350-900s are configured with three cabin classes and are primarily used on high-demand routes. 

The aircraft’s deployment on short domestic sectors is a reflection of a country that is urbanised and large in size, with a high-traffic domestic air travel market that supports high passenger volumes on widebody aircraft, even on flights lasting little more than an hour.

How far can the Airbus A350 fly non-stop?

While the A350 can make an efficient high-density short-haul aircraft for a limited number of carriers, it is more often used as a long-haul workhorse for airlines seeking to extract maximum benefit from its impressive range. 

Indeed, Airbus describes the A350 as its “long-range leader”, with capability to reach destinations up to 9,000nm away. It can already connect cities such as New York and Singapore, and Auckland with Doha. 

Soon, with modifications that will lead to a new variant of the airframe, it will be capable of reaching Sydney from London and New York. 

‘Project Sunrise’ to stretch the reach of the A350 

Qantas’ ‘Project Sunrise’, launched in 2017, has set out to link eastern Australia to London and New York non-stop. 

Airbus took on the challenge and has created the A350-1000ULR, which will be used to operate the world’s longest A350 flight. 

Certification of this ultra-long range variant began with the first flight of an ULR production aircraft carefully equipped with customised flight test instrumentation. Once the campaign concludes, the aircraft will be prepared for commercial service.

Last month, the airframer flew the aircraft from Europe to Australia as part of the test programme. 

On 23 July, the first A350-1000ULR flight-test aircraft, MSN707, departed Toulouse for Melbourne on its longest point-to-point flight to date.  It subsequently returned to France several days later, carrying two Qantas guest pilots, and landed back in Toulouse on the morning of 28 July. 

The return sector lasted 24 hours and 24 minutes, covering 12,460nm. 

The goal was to demonstrate that the aircraft, powered by two Rolls-Royce Trent XWB-97 engines, can perform a 23-hour flight – this ensures coverage for Qantas’ intended 21 hours 40 minutes flight time (plus holding, diversion and taxi times at departure and arrival), for its forthcoming “Project Sunrise” routes.

The crew also tested the A350-1000ULR’s new twin Flight Crew Rest Compartment (FCRC), including the air conditioning performance. 

This new module, specially designed for the -1000ULR’s ultra long missions, features two separate, dedicated sections with individual entrances. This modification ensures that in airline operation pilots can enter or exit their respective rest areas without disturbing one another.

The world’s longest Airbus A350 passenger flights

There are other examples of the A350 being deployed on ultra-long missions. 

Singapore Airlines, the world’s first customer for the A350-900ULR, operates some of the longest commercial passenger flights in the world.

The longest is the New York JFK-Singapore service, covering around 9,000nm (16,700km), and taking around 19 hours 15 minutes, depending on winds and operating conditions. 

The return Singapore-JFK flight typically takes around 18 hours 40 minutes, while the carrier’s Newark-Singapore service is similarly lengthy, at approximately 19 hours 10 minutes.

Singapore Airlines also uses the A350 on long-haul services to the US West Coast. Singapore-San Francisco covers around 7,340nm and takes approximately 15 hours 45 minutes, while Los Angeles-Singapore spans roughly 7,600nm and takes around 16 hours 25 minutes.

Beyond Singapore Airlines’ ultra-long-haul network, several other carriers use the A350 on stretched intercontinental sectors.

Qatar Airways operates the A350-1000 between Doha and Los Angeles, covering around 7,250nm (13,430km) in approximately 16 hours 30 minutes. 

China Southern’s A350-900 connects Shenzhen with Mexico City, spanning roughly 7,300nm (13,520km) and taking around 16 hours 15 minutes.

Cathay Pacific also deploys its A350-1000 on the Dallas/Fort Worth–Hong Kong route. At approximately 7,400nm (13,700km), the sector takes around 16 hours 10 minutes.