5 Houston - Sydney
8,596 miles
A common theme when looking more widely at the longest scheduled non-stop flights with the Boeing 787 family is the transpacific corridor from the United States of America to Australia and New Zealand.
This is evidenced by the presence of multiple routes that connect these markets ranking among the five longest scheduled non-stop flights with the 787, with Houston to Sydney being one example.
Indeed, according to Great Circle Mapper, the route from Houston George Bush Intercontinental (IAH) to Sydney Kingsford Smith Airport (SYD) clocks in at a whopping distance of some 8,596 miles (13,834 km).
United Airlines is the only carrier serving the route on a non-stop basis with the 787 this March, and its variant of choice is the mid-sized 787-9, of which, per ch-aviation, it has 42 (146 on order).
According to current fleet data made available by aeroLOPA, United Airlines configures its mid-sized Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner aircraft in a three-class layout that has space for a grand total of 257 passengers onboard.
The best seats in the house are the 48 Polaris business class flatbeds, laid out in a staggered 1-2-1 setup. There are also 21 premium economy and 188 economy class seats onboard.
4 Auckland - New York
8,828 miles
Staying on the transpacific corridor, two different airlines from Oceania have scheduled non-stop flights with the Boeing 787 between Auckland Airport (AKL) and New York John F Kennedy International (JFK) this March.
This route is 8,828 miles (14,207 km) long, and will be served by Dreamliners from both Qantas and Air New Zealand . Both carriers favor the mid-sized 787-9 model on this route.
Meanwhile, Air New Zealand's non-stop 787 flights between Auckland and JFK operate on a standalone basis, with no second leg.
The carrier has scheduled 14 rotations on the route this March, with the outbound flight (numbered as NZ2) taking 15 hours and 45 minutes between leaving Auckland at 19:15 and reaching JFK at 17:00.
Meanwhile, NZ1 leaves JFK at 19:20 and, after a whopping scheduled block time of 18 hours and five minutes, reaches Auckland at 07:25 two days later.
Air New Zealand has two different seating configurations for its 787-9s, but favors the lower-density 275-seat layout for this route. This features 27 three-abreast business class flatbeds, 33 premium economy recliners, and 215 economy seats. As for Qantas, the Australian flag carrier's 787-9s have 236 seats onboard, with this layout being even lower in density than that of Air New Zealand. Onboard, it has:
- 42 business class flatbeds (1-2-1).
- 28 premium economy recliners (2-3-2).
- 166 economy class seats (3-3-3).
3 Perth - Paris
8,863 miles
Moving away from routes that serve the United States of America using aircraft from the Boeing 787 Dreamliner family, but staying on the theme of corridors that originate in Oceania, we have Qantas' corridor from Perth Airport (PER) to Paris Charles de Gaulle (CDG).
The route clocks in at an impressive 8,863 miles (14,264 km) in length, with the Australia flag carrier being the sole non-stop 787 operator.
The airline's presence on the route is a relatively new one, having only relaunched its flights to the capital city of France last year. These came back in July 2024, just in time for the Olympic and Paralympic games, and represented the Australian flag carrier's first flights to and from the 'City of Light' in 20 years. Qantas Group CEO Vanessa Hudson said that the route reflected customer desires, explaining that:
"In recent years, we have seen a significant increase in customers wanting to fly direct on long-haul routes and avoiding stopovers wherever possible. Our direct flights from Perth to London and Rome have some of the highest customer satisfaction on our international network."
2 Melbourne - Dallas
8,992 miles
Given Australia's distant location in Oceania, as well as the social and economic importance of linking this market with Europe and North America, it is unsurprising to see that Qantas also accounts for the second-longest and longest non-stop 787 flights this March.
The former of these corridors links Melbourne with Dallas / Fort Worth International Airport (DFW), with a distance of 8,992 miles (14,471 km).
Qantas has scheduled 16 Dreamliner flights in each direction on this transpacific corridor in March 2025, with the 787-9 (which is, in fact, the Australian flag carrier's only widebody design from the Boeing stable) once again being the aircraft of choice.
According to fleet data made available by ch-aviation, the airline has 14 of these twinjets in its fleet, plus four more on order (and eight orders for the 787-10).
These aircraft are six years old on average. While all 42 of its Thomson Aero Vantage XL business class flatbeds are comfortable places to spend a long-haul flight, it is worth noting that the cabin is split into two sections.
Between the first and second doors of the aircraft, there are eight rows, with the remaining three located behind the second door, where passengers have a more exclusive environment.
Flying eastbound, Qantas flight QF21 is scheduled to leave the Australian flag carrier's hub in Melbourne at 16:20 local time, with the journey to Texas taking 15 hours and 40 minutes.
This gives it a scheduled arrival time at DFW of 15:00. As for the return flight, QF22 departs the Texan hub at 18:55 local time, and, after 17 hours and 45 minutes, reaches Melbourne at 05:40 two days later.
1 Perth - London
9,009 miles
The longest non-stop Boeing 787 Dreamliner route operated by Qantas (and, indeed, any carrier anywhere in the world) this March connects Perth with London Heathrow Airport (LHR).
As well as being the longest route on the list, with a distance of 9,009 miles (14,499 km), it is also the most frequently served, with Qantas flying between these two airports daily, amounting to 31 round trips in March.
According to Qantas, the Australian flag carrier started operating non-stop flights between Perth and London in March 2018.
These were very successful in their first year of operations, achieving an impressive load factor of 94%.
However, the onset of the coronavirus pandemic plunged the route into uncertainty, with the national airline considering Darwin as an alternative destination from London.
However, after a hiatus that lasted more than two years, Qantas eventually resumed its non-stop flights between Perth and London in May of 2022. Back then, the flight also featured a domestic leg between Perth and Melbourne, but this has since been cut from the schedule.
As my reported at the time, it was axed last July, resulting in a 5% reduction in seats between Perth and Melbourne.