Click on the blue (departing), red (arrival) dots or green line (route) to unveil more information.
EUROCONTROL Data Snapshot #48 on the longest flights from Europe
What is the longest flight you can take from your country?
In this Data Snapshot, we examine the air traffic dynamics within the European Civil Aviation Conference (ECAC) area, focusing on the longest flights by country and their implications for connectivity.
The map illustrates the longest flights departing from various ECAC member countries1. Flight durations vary significantly, ranging from approximately 3 hours for the route from Pristina to Helsinki to an impressive 16.3 hours for the journey from London to Perth. Interestingly, Perth is also served by Qantas from Paris and Rome and holds the top three positions in the rankings.
Tokyo and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) each boasts seven routes from European airports. Tokyo is well-connected to larger airports such as Copenhagen and Helsinki (to Haneda), as well as Frankfurt, Zurich, Vienna, Warsaw, and Brussels (to Narita). This extensive network offers a vast range of connecting possibilities and facilitates seamless travel for passengers heading to Japan. In contrast, smaller Eastern European countries including Slovenia, Latvia, Albania, Moldova, Bosnia, Montenegro, and Bulgaria have established vital routes to the UAE. These connections are essential for passengers seeking access to diverse destinations, across Asia and beyond, enhancing connectivity for passengers from these less prominent markets.
Despite the robust connections highlighted, several European aviation markets exhibit limited long-haul connectivity. The longest flights from these countries predominantly remain within the ECAC area, primarily catering to traditional tourist flows. For instance, the longest routes from Bratislava and Tallinn are to leisure destinations (the Canary Islands and Malaga), reflecting a focus on holiday travel. Connections from Cyprus and Malta to Belfast and Tallinn further illustrate this trend.
Technical Bits:
1. The longest flight is calculated as the average route length for flight plan-based (M1) trajectories. We consider departing scheduled passenger flights from ECAC airports in September 2024 with at least four frequencies. The routes shown on the map are based on great circle distance and are used solely for visualisation purposes. They do not represent the actual flown routes and do not account for rerouting due to wars, conflicts, weather conditions, or other factors.