Re: Airline Trivia
Q. How high does my 747 (or other airliner) usually fly?
A. Depending on the sky conditions and length of flight, the cruising altitude of an airliner can range anywhere between 29000 feet (8839m) to 41000 feet (12497m). Usually, a higher altitude is optimal for longer flights due to less fuel burn (less oxygen at higher altitudes), so most transoceanic flights are usually above 37000 feet. However, the cruising altitude might change should heavy turbulence or headwinds occur at a certain altitude. Certain smaller turboprop airliners such as the Saab 340 or Beech 1900 have a lower cruising altitude due to structural limitations.
Q. Can an airliner fly higher than 41000 feet?
A. Yes, but in most cases, not above 43000 feet. The Boeing 747-SP (Special Performance) was designed to be able to fly as high as 43000ft. The Concorde, however, was able to fly up to 60000ft and normally did so, because of its extremely small windows and its structure.
Q. How fast do airliners usually fly?
A. Although this may vary by airliner and length of flight, typical airliners usually fly at speeds above 800km/h during cruising altitude. After the demise of the Concorde, the fastest airliner in regular airline operation is the Boeing 747-400, which is designed to fly as fast as 920km/h. Among the slowest would be the ATR-42 or ATR-72, which are both turboprop airlines used for regional airline service. Also, the cruising speed might vary drastically depending on the direction of wind. The more headwind there is, the slower. The more tailwind there is, the faster.
Q. What's the longest scheduled non-stop airline flight in the world?
A. The longest scheduled non-stop commercial flight at the moment is Newark-Singapore, flown by Singapore Airlines with the Airbus A340-500. The duration of the flight averages around 18 hours.
History
- Newark-Singapore, Singapore Airlines A340-500 (June 2004-)
- Los Angeles-Singapore, Singapore Airlines A340-500 (Feb 2004)
- Newark-Hong Kong, Continental Airlines 777-200ER (2001-)
- New York JFK-Hong Kong, United Airlines 747-400 (1998-September 2001)
- New York JFK-Johannesburg, South African Airways (1997-2002)
Q. What's the shortest airline flight in the world?
A. The shortest scheduled commercial airline flight in the world is a British Airways commuter flight from Westray to Papa Westray, Scotland. The duration of the flight is two minutes, and is flown by a BN-2 Islander.
Q. What was the longest non-stop flight ever done (non-scheduled)?
A. The longest non-stop flight ever conducted in history was done by a Boeing 777-200LR (Long Range), flying Hong Kong-London the longer way (going East instead of West). Previous to that, a Malaysia Airlines 777-200ER (registration 9M-MRA) flew non-stop between Seattle and Kuala Lumpur, going the longer way (Eastbound instead of westbound) in 1998. In 1994, a privately owned Airbus A340-200 flew from Saudi Arabia to Auckland, New Zealand non-stop, and in 1989, a Qantas Airways Boeing 747-400 flew non-stop between London and Sydney with approximately 50 passengers, on a delivery flight.
Q. How long is the shortest runway that a Boeing 747 can land and take off?
A. The shortest runway with regular 747 landings and take offs would be located in St. Maarten, in the caribbean, which is 2180 meters long. However on June 2, 1997, a Saudi Arabian 747 had mistakenly landed in an air force base near Mumbai, India with only 1451 meters of runway space to use. That 747 was stripped of unnecessary parts and was able to fly out of the base.
For a heavily loaded flight from Toronto to Europe or Asia, an 2500 meter or longer runway at the very least would be necessary, unless if payload restrictions are placed on such flights.
Q. If I wanted to fly a 747 out of Toronto, what options do I have?
A. Your choices, as of today, would be limited to the following:
- KLM to Amsterdam
- Korean Air to Seoul
- British Airways to London
Air France flies the 747 to Toronto in the summer. At the moment, the flight is operated by an Airbus A330-200.
Q. When was the last scheduled Concorde flight
The last 3 commercial Concorde flights were conducted on October 24, 2003. The last one, arriving from New York, landed at 4:05pm.
The last flight (without passengers) occured on November 26, 2003.
