Between now and the end of May, there are 11 A320neo routes over 3,000 miles. The longest is Moscow Domodedovo to Blagoveschensk, on the Chinese border, nearly 3,500 miles apart with a block time of up to 8.5 hours. For context, it is 41 miles farther than Heathrow to JFK.
Use of the A320neo: a summary
There are some 269,000 non-stop flights scheduled by the A320neo between January 25th and May 31st, according to OAG data. The average sector length is 936 miles (1,506km), about 16% longer than the standard A320ceo, the world's most-used aircraft type in October 2021.
That's based on the vast majority of neo users, as unhelpfully not operators use the '32N' IATA code when uploading schedules to OAG, preferring to use '320' or '32A' (A320 with sharklets).
You'd expect the higher distance with the neo, helped by much lower fuel consumption (potentially a 15% saving), making longer routes more economical. The higher fuel efficiency partly helps with the increased range, with a theoretical mission of up to 3,900 miles (6,300km). It's the same situation with the B737 MAX, which had an average sector 35% longer than next-gen B737s in November.
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A320neo long-haul: routes 3,000+ miles
Some 14 routes are over 3,000 miles, the point considered to be long-haul. That reduces to 11 at airport-level, where airlines are stripped out, as shown below. All are bookable (some infrequently) and almost all involve Russia. The lion's share is by S7 Airlines.
- 3,492 miles (5,620km): Moscow Domodedovo (DME) to Blagoveschensk (BQS); S7 Airlines and Ural Airlines
- 3,278 miles (5,275km): Tashkent (TAS)-London Heathrow (LHR); Uzbekistan Airways
- 3,262 miles (5,250km): Moscow Sheremetyevo (SVO)-Tenerife South (TFS); Aeroflot
- 3,175 miles (5,110km): Vladivostok (VVO)-Phuket (HKT); S7 Airlines and Ural Airlines
- 3,127 miles (5,032km): DME-Neryungri (NER); S7 Airlines
- 3,102 miles (4,992km): Bangkok Suvarnabhumi (BKK)-Khabarovsk (KHV); S7 Airlines
- 3,062 miles (4,927km): Irkutsk (IKT)-HKT; S7 Airlines and Ural Airlines
- 3,055 miles (4,916km); Ulan-Ude (UUD)-HKT; S7 Airlines
- 3,054 miles (4,914km); VVO-Fergana (FEG); S7 Airlines
- 3,054 miles (4,914km): DME-Yakutsk (YKS); S7 Airlines
- 3,014 miles (4,850km): BKK-Novosibirsk (OVB); S7 Airlines
Another long-haul route – Kuwait to Manchester – might be coming, as highlighted in the following map. Although not yet officially announced, it'd be 3,013 miles (4,849km) and use Kuwait Airways' 134-seat aircraft.
Over 8 hours: Domodedovo to Blagoveschensk
At about 10% below the non-real-world range of the A320neo is Moscow Domodedovo to Blagoveschensk, the world's longest airport-pair by the variant. It is likely at the upper limit of what's realistic distance-wise.
Served up to five-daily (in May), Blagoveschensk is located by Russia's border with China opposite the Chinese city of Heihe. Going to Moscow and therefore into the wind, it has a typical block time – including flight time, taxi time, and time for short delays – of eight hours and five minutes. But some are 20 minutes longer.
Replacing other airlines and aircraft types
S7 Airlines and Ural Airlines both launched the route in 2019, replacing Transaero and VIM Airlines. Transaero used B767-200ERs and B767-300ERs (and at times the TU-214!), while VIM deployed the B757-200. It's another reminder that ultra-efficient narrowbodies can replace once-dominant long-haul types.
What's the longest neo route you've flown? Let us know in the comments.