Travel

For those who can’t bear transits and the rush of humanity at overcrowded airports to long haul destinations such as New York from our corner of the world, we have good news.

Singapore Airlines is starting the world’s longest non-stop flight from 11 October. Passengers will be able to travel on the Airbus A350-900ULR (Ultra Long Range) from Singapore to New York with a record-breaking time of 20 hours.

The airline has snagged seven of the ULR aircrafts, and will be the first to offer these services. The ULRs have capacity to carry 24,000 litres of fuel to power through 20 hours of flying over 17,960 kilometres – that’s almost 3,000 kilometres more compared to the standard models.

The planes are designed to maximise your comfort and boast features such as an enormous living room-like feel with high ceilings, low noise levels, sophisticated LED lights, almost vertical sidewalls and large panoramic windows. Airbus’ aircraft interiors marketing director Florent Pettini assures passengers that there will be no missing windows. “Whenever a passenger selects a window seat, they will always get a window.” No more hashtagging your travel pictures with #whereismywindow.

Singapore Airlines will announce full details soon but you may have to wait a bit longer before getting a seat. Owing to the weight restrictions from the aircraft carrying more fuel, there will only be 161 seats on board instead of the standard 253. Passengers will be pleased to know that there will still be a large business class cabin and a variety of premium economy seats. Worried about dirty loos? Fret not, the Airbus’ lavatory and water systems are guaranteed to sustain a 20-hour flight.

Tickets go on sale May 31st.

Source: Howard Slutsken/CNN-Wire

Related: World’s Busiest International Air Route is Here in Southeast Asia​