For obvious reasons, any discussion about the world’s longest nonstop passenger flights necessarily involves Australia and New Zealand. Between December 2025 and February 2026, the summer Down Under, the two nations have eight airport pairs that are blocked at 17 hours or more. Others will be available at other times of the year.

At up to 18h 10m, the top route is from New York JFK back to Auckland. Both Air New Zealand and Qantas serve it, although Australia’s flag carrier does so on a fifth freedom basis, with all flights beginning and ending in Sydney. Of course, Qantas is expected to have nonstop Sydney-JFK flights in the future, along with nonstop Sydney-London Heathrow service.

17 Hours Or More: Australia & New Zealand’s Longest Nonstop Flights

JFK back to Auckland is first based on the maximum block time (chocks-off-to-chocks-on), with JFK being the US’s top airport for widebody flights. Air New Zealand’s max time is 18h 10m is available, while Qantas’ offering is up to 17h 40m.

Despite JFK-Auckland’s pole position by time, it only ranks fifth based on the great circle distance. This measures the shortest distance between two airports and does not, of course, reflect real-world operations. In distance terms, Qatar Airways’ Auckland service is just about number one.

Some readers may wonder why other nonstop markets are not included. For example, Perth to Rome Fiumicino is not listed. That is because it only runs during the northern summer season, not in the examined period. When it returns in May 2026, the block will be up to 16 hours and 25 minutes—insufficiently long for this article. No South American markets were long enough, either. Timed at up to 15 hours and 30 minutes, they are way too short to be included.

Only 1 US Airline Is Present

Multiple US passenger airlines fly to Australia and New Zealand: Alaska Airlines/Hawaiian, American, Delta, and United. They collectively have many routes, some of which are new in winter 2025/2026. However, only United is featured in the 17-hours-or-more table.

The Star Alliance member inaugurated the very long route from its Houston Intercontinental fortress hub to Sydney in 2018. Flights operated through to 2020, when the pandemic meant they had to pause. They returned in 2022. While the route was initially served on a year-round basis, it is now northern winter seasonal.

According to US Department of Transportation data for October 2024 to March 2025 (winter 2024/2025), United transported 44,000 round-trip passengers. However, a disappointingly low 72% of seats were filled. Only December and January, with higher demand because of Christmas and the New Year, did somewhat better (77%-79%). Unless the yields are so strong or the network importance of this route is great, it may end up being removed. It’d be easy to funnel passengers through the carrier’s San Francisco or Los Angeles hubs instead.

Qatar Airways’ Auckland Services

The oneworld member has flown to New Zealand’s most populous city since 2017. Its first service to the Southern Hemisphere nation materialized 14 years after its major Gulf competitor, Emirates. Qatar Airways has flown the 777-200LR, 777-300ER, and A350-1000 to Auckland.

QR920 leaves Doha at 7:00 pm and arrives in Auckland at 9:10 pm local time (16h 10m). Returning, QR921 departs at 11:45 pm and gets back to the Middle East at 6:55 am local time (17h 10m). The 777-200LR is currently scheduled, which is, of course, designed for such long missions. The 272-seat configuration is used, which has 42 QSuites (1-2-1) and 230 seats in economy (mainly 3-4-3, which is horrendous; 32″ pitch).