Qatar Airways back flying non-stop: Where New Zealand ranks in list of world’s longest flights

Qatar Airways’ return to Auckland with non-stop flights from Doha from early next month will mean New Zealand is the destination for three of the top 10 longest flights in the world.

The 14,535-kilometre flight from Auckland on September 2 will be the third-longest flying now, according to data from schedule analysts OAG.

The Air New Zealand and Qantas flights between Auckland and New York’s JFK airport, a distance of 14,209km, come in sixth. That flight is just 16km longer than the Auckland-Dubai flights operated by Emirates.

The non-stop Qatar flight will replace a service that’s been operating via Adelaide for much of the past three years using a Boeing 777-300.

Qatar Airways is bringing its flagship Airbus A350-1000 aircraft on the route, which has 46 business class and 281 economy class seats.

A key feature of the service is the business-class QSuite, which has won many awards since its introduction in 2017.

Auckland Airport chief customer officer Scott Tasker said it was great Qatar had the confidence to return to New Zealand with the near-new aircraft.

He said the demand for non-stop flying – with flights of 16 to 17 hours - into and out of New Zealand was strong.

The big Middle Eastern hub airports, Dubai and Doha’s Hamad International Airport, were popular with travellers.

Just on 43 per cent of traffic between New Zealand and Europe came through those airports on Qatar and its rival, Emirates.

“This is great in our market because customers coming from far away do look for recognisable airline brands like Qatar Airways, and they look for great functioning hubs like Doha.”

“What customers demand are convenient, non-stop flights. We are a long way away, so that’s why we’ve got three in the top 10.”

House of Travel chief operating officer Brent Thomas said Kiwi travellers were keen to get the long leg of a trip to Europe out of the way first, so flights via the Middle East and New York were very popular.

He said the return of non-stop Qatar flights would be very well received.

“You know you’re going to get a really good plane with quality service.”

While airfares have gone through the roof in the past 18 months, Qatar put into the market a short-duration sale. Return fares from Auckland to Lyon were $2300 in economy, and fares to Frankfurt in business class were below $8150 for at least two people travelling together.

Justin Kestel, Qatar’s regional manager for Australia and New Zealand said demand for the non-stop flight between Auckland and Doha was higher than pre-Covid levels. Bookings for December and January are outpacing comparable Australian routes, with growing interest from markets like South Africa, India, and Pakistan.

The recent fare sale were used to promote direct services and as European ‘‘Early Bird’' bookings season for 2024/2025 approaches, he recommended early bookings for the best deals.

Thomas said there were signs of fares moderating across many routes, driven by more airline competition between New Zealand and the United States, particularly over summer.

And while the economy was souring, there was no sign of demand for overseas travel easing.

He said the current six weeks were traditionally a quiet period for agents, but this year had been as busy as ever. If the New Zealand dollar weakened further against the US dollar to below 60c, that may, however, have an impact on sentiment.

Grant Bradley has been working at the Herald since 1993. He is the Business Herald’s deputy editor and covers aviation and tourism.