Flight Of The Week: Qantas Completes Its Longest Ever Commercial Flight

The Image Above: Qantas flight QF14 being tracked by satellite via RadarBox.com

History in aviation was made on Tuesday (October 5th) afternoon when Qantas Airways flight QF14 took off from Ezeiza International Airport, Buenos Aires, Argentina, to Darwin, the capital of Australia's northern territory. This flight, which was one of the longest flights ever flown, was operated at the behest of the Australian government and had 107 passengers (128 including crew) on board.

QF14 was also the most tracked flight on RadarBox this week. It was tracked by our ground-based and satellite-based ADS-B receivers while crossing Antarctica and a large portion of the southern hemisphere on its journey to Australia.

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The Image Above: Qantas QF14 Flight Crew - Photo Source: Qantas

The Image Above: Qantas QF14 Flight Deck - Photo Source: Qantas 

The Image Above: Qantas QF14 Flight Deck - Photo Source: Qantas 

Qantas' longest ever passenger flight was operated with a Boeing 787-9 (VH-ZNH), which was on a mission to repatriate Australian citizens who were stuck in Argentina and South America due to restrictions imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The route that QF14 flew, is considered the longest commercial passenger route in the world and is about 522 km longer than the previous record also set by Qantas, that flew between Perth (PER) and London Heathrow (LHR).

The Image Above: Flight plan for QF14, from Buenos Aires (EZE) to Darwin (DWR)

A total of 8072 nautical miles (14,949 km) were covered, circumventing the South Pole with temperatures of -75°C (-84°F), traversing along the Australian east coast, and landing at 06:30 PM (local time) at Darwin Airport on a 17-hour and 21-minute flight from South America to Oceania.

Qantas Boeing 787-9 (VH-ZNH) Route Heatmap on AirNav RadarBox: 

Qantas Boeing 787-9 Utilization Statistics (VH-ZNH) on AirNav RadarBox: 

According to AirNav RadarBox data, Qantas' Boeing 787-9 (VH-ZNH) is the sixth most flown B-789 among Australian Boeing 787-9s. In the last 12 months, 118 flights were operated, with a monthly average of 9.8 flights, 397,971 nautical miles flown, and a total time of 846 hours traveled worldwide.