Summary As Singapore Airlines will end the world's longest one-stop service, another route will take the top spot. Air China from Beijing Capital-Madrid-São Paulo will become number one globally. The route runs twice-weekly and takes over 25 hours to reach Brazil.
In mid-August, it was revealed that Singapore Airlines would end Singapore-Manchester-Houston Intercontinental. The last flight will leave Texas on March 30, 2025, two days earlier than previously planned. The fifth freedom route, whose stopover switched from Moscow to Manchester in 2016 , is currently the world's longest one-stop scheduled service.
But given it will end, the top spot will see another offering. Introducing Air China to São Paulo After more than four years of absence, Air China resumed flying Beijing-Madrid-São Paulo in April 2024. It has fifth-freedom traffic rights between the Spanish and Brazilian cities.
On the Great Circle basis, it covers a considerable 9,494 nautical miles (17,583 km) each way. It is currently the world's second-longest one-stop operation after Singapore Airlines to Houston, which covers approximately 5.4% more distance.
If, like most other airlines, Air China had to avoid Russian airspace, it would have taken much longer to reach Brazil. Given the economic considerations of this, it may not have returned or stopped elsewhere en route. But it did return, with the service primarily targeting the large Brazilian Chinese community in the country's most populous city, a mark.