This route was previously operated with a refuelling stop at Los Angeles International Airport, where all passengers would disembark the aircraft and pass through U.S. This route was operated from March to April 2020. The longest ever scheduled passenger flight was Air Tahiti Nui's flight TN64 using a Boeing 787-9, flying non-stop from Faa'a International Airport in Papeete, Tahiti to Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport, a distance of 15,715 kilometres (9,765 mi 8,485 nmi) in a schedule duration of 16 hours, 20 minutes.
Since Novemthe longest active scheduled passenger flight by great circle distance is Singapore Airlines Flights SQ23/SQ24 using an Airbus A350-900ULR between Singapore and New York City-JFK at 15,349 kilometres (9,537 mi 8,288 nmi). While the distance between two cities is constant, aircraft do not follow a straight path but will adjust the flight path based on headwinds, tailwinds, other weather events, and to avoid flying over certain countries because of politics or war. The "world's longest flight" has disputed status due to the generality of such a claim.
The term "longest flight" is most commonly used in reference to flights that are commercial, passenger, and scheduled, such that the flight details are published and tickets are available for purchase. There are numerous different types of flights globally operated by different aircraft for different industries and purposes.
Also, although the term is most commonly used to compare between different non-stop flights, direct flights with stops (same flight number used for full journey) might also be compared on some occasions. Typically, the great circle distance between the origin and destination is used, but alternative metrics include the duration of the flight, and the actual distance flown (when a longer route can use the jet stream to reduce the total travel time). The length of a flight can be defined in different ways.