There are about 42,000 non-stop long-haul narrowbody flights across the rest of the year, according to the latest schedule upload available via Cirium. Here, 'long-haul' means routes over 3,000 miles (4,828km). Kuwait Airways' recently introduced Manchester service just about met the criteria.

Four in every ten flights are by the A321neo, making the model very much the leader in long-haul narrowbody operations. It has over twice as many services as the next most-used, the long-lasting B757-200ER.

But don't be fooled. Across all long-haul flights, single-aisle aircraft operate fewer than six in every 100. However, long-haul narrowbody services have risen by 2% versus the pre-pandemic, including from right-sizing, obviously significantly aided by the B737 MAX and the A321neo.

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Who has the most long-haul flights?

As shown below, Panama's all-narrowbody operator Copa has more flights than any other, for which it utilizes B737 MAX 9s and next-gen B737-800s.

It has nine long-haul routes from its Panama City hub. São Paulo Guarulhos has the most flights – up to 6x daily – followed in order by Buenos Airlines, Montevideo, Los Angeles, Rio Galeão, San Francisco, Porto Alegre, Belo Horizonte, and Rosario. But its longest is Panama City-Montevideo, some 3,385 miles (5,447km) apart.

1. Copa: approximately 8,264 non-stop long-haul narrowbody flights May 10th-December 31st
2. United: 5,324
3. TAP Air Portugal: 3,848
4. Air Transat: 3,448
5. Aer Lingus: 3,198
6. S7: 2,120
7. Icelandair: 1,909
8. Turkish Airlines: 1,828
9. JetBlue: 1,574
10. Ural Airlines: 1,367

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The world's 10 longest narrowbody flights

While SAS doesn't appear in the above list, it operates the world's longest flight, based on May 10th-December 31st. It is the 4,074-mile (6,557km) link between Copenhagen and Washington Dulles, obviously helped by Star Alliance traffic. SAS features five times in the top ten:

1. SAS: Copenhagen to Washington Dulles, 4,074 miles (6,557 km)
2. La Compagnie: Newark to Milan Malpensa, 4,010 miles (6,453 km)
3. La Compagnie: Newark to Nice, 4,007 miles (6,448 km)
4. Air Transat: Montréal to Venice, 3,962 miles (6,376 km); three flights in May before the A330 takes over
5. SAS: Stockholm Arlanda to Toronto, 3,934 miles (6,331 km)
6. SAS: Stockholm Arlanda to Newark, 3,930 miles (6,324 km); three flights at the end of October as frequency reduces for winter
7. Philippine Airlines: Manila to Melbourne, 3,909 miles (6,291 km)
8. SAS: Copenhagen to Toronto, 3,907 miles (6,288 km)
9. Philippine Airlines: Manila to Sydney, 3,879 miles (6,243 km)
10. SAS: Copenhagen to Newark, 3,867 miles (6,244 km)

Notice all-premium carrier La Compagnie's two routes from Newark. It resumed Nice on May 6th, with 2x weekly flights rising to 3x weekly in August and September. Like all its routes, it uses 76-seat A321LRs.

SAS: Copenhagen to Washington

SAS started using the A321LR on the airport pair on February 4th. The model currently operates SK925 from Copenhagen on four days, with the much larger A330-300 on the remaining two, but things change soon. The A330 will fully operate from the end of May until October 29th but at a lower 5x weekly frequency. The A321LR will return from October 30th (the start of the winter season) with a 1x daily service.

SK925 leaves at 11:45 and arrives in Washington at 15:00 local time. It has a block time to the US of 9h 15m, against 8h 40m for the faster the A330. Flightradar24 shows that the actual flight time by the narrowbody has varied from 7h 59m to a whopping 10h 8m on the first departure.

SAS now has three A321LRs, each with only 157 seats. They're relatively premium-heavy, precisely what is needed for long-haul narrowbody service to offset higher seat-mile costs.

What is the longest narrowbody flight you've been on? For me, it's Dublin to Philadelphia.