Summary
- All 10 routes involve Hawaii this summer.
- Honolulu-Boston is number one, covering more distance than the average US-Europe flight.
- Two routes that were on the list last year aren’t now.
US airlines plan over 5,200 domestic non-stop routes between July and September, including US territories. Analyzing every service using OAG data shows that the average distance is 667 nautical miles (1,236 km). While JetBlue ranks first for the highest average domestic stage length, it does not feature once in the country’s 10 longest airport pairs list. Given the routes that feature, that is entirely unsurprising.
The US’s 10 longest domestic services
The table below shows them. For context, the first-ranked airport pair, Honolulu-Boston, is so long that it covers about 4% more distance than the average US-Europe flight. While currently served by Hawaiian, Delta will join it on November 21, when it will become its longest domestic service.
Photo: Ryken Papy | Shutterstock
The top 10 list has undergone various changes compared to July-September 2023. Newark-Honolulu and Chicago O’Hare-Kona made it then but no longer do. Houston-Honolulu and Honolulu-Guam have replaced them.
Distances are based on the Great Circle. Real-world operations may change the order, especially those routes with minimal length differences. The order will sometimes be different based on the maximum block times.
Nautical miles (km) |
Max. block time* |
Routing: July-September |
Airline (July-September flights, aircraft) |
---|---|---|---|
4,427 (8,199) |
11h 10m |
Honolulu-Boston |
Hawaiian (four to five weekly A330-200) |
4,330 (8,020) |
10h 55m |
Honolulu-New York JFK |
Hawaiian (daily A330-200); Delta (daily** 767-300ER) |
4,186 (7,752) |
10h 21m |
Washington Dulles-Honolulu |
United (Saturday only 767-400ER) |
3,912 (7,246) |
9h 32m |
Atlanta-Honolulu |
Delta (daily A330-300) |
3,889 (7,202) |
9h 42m |
Detroit-Honolulu |
Delta (daily*** 767-300ER) |
3,687 (6,829) |
9h 00m |
Chicago O’Hare-Honolulu |
United (daily 787-10) |
3,636 (6,734) |
9h 01m |
Chicago O’Hare-Kahului |
United (Saturday only 787-8) |
3,451 (6,392) |
8h 35m |
Minneapolis-Honolulu |
Delta (daily 767-300ER) |
3,392 (6,282) |
8h 16m |
Houston Intercontinental-Honolulu |
United (double daily 777-200 in July, then daily 777-200) |
3,303 (6,117) |
7h 40m |
Honolulu-Guam |
United (daily 777-300ER) |
* Either direction and regardless of the airline, if more than one |
** Some days in September will have no flights *** Some August/September weeks have five flights |
Related
The 10 US Airports With The Fewest Widebody Flights In July
The airports have between two and six-weekly twin-aisle services.
United: Houston-Honolulu
The Star Alliance member appeared five times on the table, more than any other operator. Its Houston-Honolulu link is notable as it is the only one with double daily flights by one airline – even if it is only in one of the three months examined.
All its flights on the Texas-Hawaii airport pair use the so-called ‘domestic’ Boeing 777. It is a non-ER version of the original 777 variant, for which United was the launch customer. Few medium-haul aircraft were produced, and even fewer remain. United has 19, including N777UA – the world’s first and oldest active Triple 7.
United’s non-ER aircraft have 364 seats – more than any other type/variant in its fleet. They include 234 seats in regular economy in the dreaded 3-4-3 layout. However, this layout is arguably less problematic on most routes they fly: large volume, leisure-heavy, and medium-range, for which the higher-capacity non-ER 777-200, with low seat-mile costs, is well suited. The fact that they are paid off helps.
Based on July, the schedule is as follows, with all times local. From August onwards, only the 10:00 departure from Texas and 19:50 departure from Honolulu (not the 17:45 flight) will operate. The schedule and block times will increase in August to a maximum of 8h 16m to Honolulu.
- Houston-Honolulu: 10:00-13:08 and 12:05-15:13
- Honolulu-Houston: 17:45-06:28+1 and 19:50-08:33+1