Good luck in economy!Air India proposes world's longest non-stop flight-an 18-hour 8,700mile maratho

UK Daily Mail ^ | September 25, 2015 | Katie Amey

[bjorn14]

Good luck to Air India with this as even Indians avoid AI like the plague.The big question is will they be able to fill up the front of the plane.

[airplaneguy]

here’s the great circle route. The Distance is within the range of a 777-300ER or 777-200LR. Which Air India operates.

http://www.gcmap.com/mapui?P=sfo-blr&MS=wls&DU=mi

[minnesota_bound]

Strapped into a 17” wide seat with the next seat leaned over you so you cannot stand up straight. No elbow room either.
I would rather be back in the cargo hold with the dogs.

[Hawthorn]

>> Anybody thinking of taking this flight needs to google: blood clots, pulmonary embolism and long flights <<

Been there, done that.

Just take several aspirin, drink about a gallon of water, avoid caffeine and alcohol, and don’t remain seated for more than three hours without walking around.

Then you’ll be fine — no clots and almost no jet lag.

[ladyjane]

If you drink a gallon of water you won’t remain in your seat for 3 hours. You’ll be up walking to the loo.

[okie01]

here’s the great circle route.

Over the Arctic, of course.

But does Russia allow commercial overflights that are not destined for points within?

[Yaelle]

Funny, ruefully.

[Gay State Conservative]

I’ve done 14 hours numerous times and did 16 hours once (JFK-HKG).Doing 18 hours? No thanks...not even in First Class.

[TalonDJ]

“Why they would route the other way? Maybe prevailing winds.”

Well they will be too far south to get much out of the Jetstream... I think.

[airplaneguy]

Yes they do. Almost all countries do except for a couple.
North Korea and Iran dont. The International Civil Aviation
Organization (ICAO) has member nations globally that agree
to allow airlines to overfly and use their Air Traffic Services etc.
Even the countries that dont like each other usually leave the
Airlines out of their Political hassles. Ive flown over some unfriendly countries before like Afghanistan.

[cynwoody]

Looking at the proposed route as shown on the map in the article, wouldn’t it be shorter to fly east, across the Pacific, instead of the other direction?

It would. 8700 miles, just under 16 hours.

However, the other direction has its attractions, given a stop-over in, say, Reykjavik, long enough to sample the local environment.

Bangalore to Reykjavik: 10h20m

Reykjavik to San Fran: 7h40m

[okie01]

Thanks for the info.

[Hawthorn]

>> If you drink a gallon of water you won’t remain in your seat for 3 hours. You’ll be up walking to the loo <<

Not necessarily. The exceedingly dry air in the cabin means you’ll lose a lot more moisture via your skin than you lose in ordinary ground-level conditions.

And by the way, I didn’t mean to suggest that you drink that gallon all at once. Just space it out over your 17-hour flight — and you’ll be fit as a fiddle when you land.

[ladyjane]

I thought you were recommending having that much in your system before you get on board. But drinking a gallon while on board can still get you up quite a few times during the trip.

Just look at the number of people who are constantly getting up to go to the lav now. Even on flights less than two hours, the lines can get long. Most people in first class go infrequently, they plan ahead because they know how bad the lavs can get especially after ten people in coach decide they’d like to try up front.

[Hawthorn]

>> But drinking a gallon while on board can still get you up quite a few times during the trip <<

It’s really not so bad for me. And drinking prodigious quantities of water, plus avoiding alcohol and caffeine, has been my formula for avoiding jet lag after many flights of 20+ hours from the USA to SE Asia. Before I discovered the problem of dehydration, my jet lag could last as long as ten days. Now it lasts only a day or less.

But anyway, getting up a lot during a long flight is maybe the best way to avoid blood clots, also known as DVT or “deep vein thrombosis” — something that can be a huge problem.

For example, I was told by a gal who worked at the American Embassy in Beijing that a major function of the Consular Section there was to deal with elderly American tourists who either died or were hospitalized due to DVT after long flights to China. I’m willing to bet that most of those poor folks didn’t get up often enough during their flights.

[ladyjane]

It’s the deep vein thrombosis that kills you (unless you are very old and you get an infection or something) it’s the resulting pulmonary embolism. That’s the killer.

You’re right. Drink lots of water, aspirin, and move around a lot when you’re flying, especially on long flights.