Up To 17h 05m: The US's 10 Longest Airbus A350-1000 Flights

Nine airlines currently fly the Airbus A350-1000: Air Caraïbes, British Airways, Cathay Pacific, Ethiopian Airlines, Etihad Airways (I recently flew one on the carrier's inaugural Atlanta service), French bee, Japan Airlines, Qatar Airways, and Virgin Atlantic.

All carriers except Air Caraibes use long-range, high-capacity equipment to the US. They include French bee, which deploys its 480-seat A350-1000s on a three-times-weekly basis between Paris Orly and Newark. It is the US's highest-capacity twinjet operation. Yet, it is nowhere near long enough to make the list by block time or distance.

The US's 10 Longest A350-1000 Flights: July To September

Photo: Phuong D. Nguyen | Shutterstock

While perhaps unfair, nonstop and one-stop services are included for completeness. They are based on the maximum block time in the all-important third quarter. Block time includes flight time, taxi time at both airports, and a period for short delays. It reflects slot possession at slot-controlled airports. The block time usually varies in each direction, sometimes substantially, primarily because of winds. For Cathay Pacific, longer durations from avoiding Russian airspace contribute to its schedule.

Only the longest direction is specified. Even then, several routes have different times. For example, between July and September, the longest US A350-1000 route, which is Doha to Los Angeles International Airport, is timed at up to 17h 05m. This is based on Cirium Diio data, which shows that 16h 00m is much more common. Note that at up to 15h 00m, Etihad's brand-new Abu Dhabi to Atlanta service ranks 12th and is, therefore, not included.

Qatar Airways Has The Longest Nonstop Block Time

Photo: Vincenzo Pace | Simple Flying

The Qatari flag carrier has flown to the US since 2007. Los Angeles joined its map in 2016 aboard the Boeing 777-200LR (Doha is the world's third-busiest airport for 200LR flights). The higher-capacity 777-300ER appeared at times, while the A350-1000's debut was in June 2020.

The A350-1000 continues to be the only equipment Qatar Airways uses to Los Angeles. Only the higher-premium 327-seat configuration is deployed, although first class is unavailable. There are 46 Q Suites and 281 economy seats. Only the A380 has more Q Suites. In the 12 months to March 2025, Qatar Airways filled 92% of Los Angeles seats. Yerevan, Tehran, and Mumbai were its top connecting markets.

Traffic figures are for the year to March 2025.

5

Ethiopian Airlines Is Featured, But Only Because Of Its 1-Stop Service

Photo: John Boulin | Flickr

Ethopian is by far Africa's largest airline, although there's not much competition for that title. According to ch-aviation, its first A350-1000 arrived in November 2024, and it now has three frames. They all have 395 seats. About 12% of its seats are in business, a higher proportion than all other widebodies in its fleet: the A350-900 (9%), 777-300ER (9%), 787-8 (9%), 787-9 (10%), and 777-200LR (11%).

Addis Ababa's very high elevation (7,625 feet) means that it's hard to take off with heavy payloads. As such, most of Ethiopian's flights to the US and Canada stop in Rome en route, although this is simply to refuel and change crew. Traffic rights are unavailable. They then operate nonstop back to Africa.

Some US flights stop in Lomé (Togo, West Africa) due to the carrier's partnership with ASKY. They operate via Lomé in both directions to collect passengers, especially those bound to/from Accra and Lagos.

Ethiopian Airlines

Airline Type

Full Service Carrier

Hub(s)

Addis Ababa Bole International Airport

Year Founded

1945

Alliance

Star Alliance

CEO

Mesfin Tasew Bekele