An Airbus A340-500 belonging to the Royal Thai Air Force has completed what appears to be the longest flight ever operated by the type. The flight landed in North Carolina on Wednesday, November 16th, after an 18-hour flight from Bangkok.

The Royal Thai Air Force A340-500 (HS-TYV) departed Bangkok's Don Mueang International Airport under flight number RTAF202 at 06:10 on Wednesday morning. The flight set course and passed between Taiwan and the Philippines before being spotted to the east of Japan. After disappearing from public radar tracking over the Northern Pacific Ocean, the aircraft was spotted once again crossing the Gulf of Alaska before entering United States airspace in Washington State.

The aircraft touched town at Charlotte Douglas International Airport in North Carolina after a total flight time of 18 hours and 14 minutes. Due to the route crossing the international date line, the local time upon arrival was still on Wednesday, just after noon at 12:25. The total distance covered on the flight was 7,859 nautical miles.

The Airbus in question is the only one of its type operated by the Royal Thai Air Force. The Airbus A340-500 was initially delivered to Thai Airways International as (HS-TLC) in 2005 and affectionately named Phitsanulok, after a historic city in Lower Northern Thailand. The aircraft was sent to storage in June 2012 before entering service with the Air Force in August 2016.

A long-haul legend

The A340-500 is the long-range variant of the A340 family, which offered unprecedented range to open new airline routes upon its launch. Its quadjet system enables it to fly routes not possible with a twin-engine aircraft, including overwater ones with no diversion airport. The A340 family of aircraft was developed alongside the twin-engine A330, with the -500 series being the longest-range version in the group.

The aircraft has a range of 9,000 nautical miles (16,668 km/10,357 mi), longer than its chief competitor, the Boeing 777-200LR (8,555 nautical miles). Airbus made modifications specifically for the A340-500, adding new fuel tanks and stretching the fuselage and wings to increase the range and capacity. The final product can carry a massive 50% more fuel than the A340-300 and seats up to 313 passengers.

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Singapore Airlines was the first carrier to take advantage of the type's increased range significantly. The airline made history in 2004 with an Airbus A340-500 when it launched the longest route in the world, from Singapore to Los Angeles, non-stop. The journey took 14 hours and 40 minutes to complete, covering 14,093 km (7,609 NM), and set the stage for ultra-long haul travel.

The Airbus A340-500 is now quite rare to spot on commercial passenger flights, with the last of the scheduled operators removing it from the schedule earlier this year.

Another version of the aircraft, the more common Airbus A340-300, proved its usefulness in flying over Antarctica. Due to ETOPS (Extended-range Twin-engine Operational Performance Standards), there are areas twin-engine aircraft are unable to fly due to the lack of a diversion airport. Although technological advances have reduced the number of no-fly regions, most of Antarctica remains out of reach for twin-engine aircraft.

After a cruise ship of Australian tourists was stranded off the coast of Uruguay due to a COVID outbreak, a Hi Fly plane was charted to return the passengers to Australia. The repatriation flight left Carrasco International Airport outside Montevideo and flew straight to Melbourne's Tullamarine Airport, where it landed 16 hours and nine minutes later, a distance of 12,338 kilometers (6,662 NM).

Can you think of any other record-breaking Airbus A340 flights? Let us know in the comments.