8 Hours Plus: The World’s 5 Longest Boeing 737 MAX Flights This Summer
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Long-haul narrowbody flights have always been controversial. Many argue that they're less comfortable than widebodies, although new technology plays a vital role in making cabins feel more spacious.
A narrowbody flight has a far lower trip cost than that operated by a widebody. However, it has a higher seat-mile cost and higher cost per seat, but offset by fewer seats to fill. This balance partly depends on the extent of premium passengers and/or a lack of competition, but helping to increase average fares to counterbalance the higher costs.
The Boeing 737 MAX 8
The northern summer 2023 season runs from March 26th until October 28th, when it is winter in the Southern Hemisphere. According to the latest Cirium data, the Boeing 737 MAX's average flight length this northern summer is 1,121 miles (1,804 km).
Invariably, this average hides many longer distances, some well over 3,000 miles (4,828 km) considered long-haul.
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The five longest MAX flights
Analysis of MAX schedules reveals that Batik Air Malaysia's Kuala Lumpur-Melbourne is the world's longest scheduled flight by the type; a discussion is provided later. Operated by the MAX 8, the route is 3,918 miles (6,306 km), extremely close to the variant's theoretical range of 4,085 miles (6,574 km), although the real-world limit will be less. It must have a big payload restriction.
Note: this is a snapshot as of March 21st, so things may change. TUI fly Nordic's various long routes are scheduled charter flights and often operate triangularly (e.g., Helsinki-Lanzarote-Sal-Helsinki). Where they're not nonstop = not n/s, and where block time varies, the most frequent time is stated.
| Rank | Route | Airline | Miles (km) | Block out | Block in | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kuala Lumpur to Melbourne | Batik Air Malaysia | 3,918 (6,306) | 7h 55m | 8h 35m | It varies but up to daily. MAX 8 |
| 2 | Sal to Helsinki | TUI fly Nordic | 3,826 (6,158) | Not n/s (see above) | 7h 55m | Just three flights: March 28th, April 8th, and April 11th. MAX 8 |
| 3 | Brasília to Orlando | Gol | 3,777 (6,079) | 8h 20m | 8h 0m | Daily. MAX 8 |
| 4 | Buenos Aires to Punta Cana | Aerolineas Argentinas | 3,728 (6,000) | 7h 55m | 7h 50m | Four weekly. MAX 8 |
| 5 | Stockholm Arlanda to Boa Vista | TUI fly Nordic | 3,634 (5,848) | 7h 50m | Not n/s (see above) | Just four flights: April 1st and 8th, October 24th and 28th. MAX 8 |
Batik Air Malaysia to Melbourne
Batik Air Malaysia launched the route on December 6th, 2022. It uses 162-seat MAX 8s, which have 12 seats in business and 150 in economy. This relatively low configuration helps it reduce weight and fuel consumption, to increase range, and to target premium demand. As mentioned at the start of this article, this will be crucial to helping the route work.
Click here for Kuala Lumpur-Melbourne flights.
According to Flightradar24, the route paused briefly on February 6th but will resume on March 30th. Examining all flights reveals that it had an average flight time (not block time) to Melbourne of 7h 39m and 8h 0m back. The longest inbound was 8h 22m, flown on February 5th.
What is your longest narrowbody flight? Let us know in the comments.
