Philippine Airlines has set another milestone in its history after the airline flew a Boeing 777-300ER aircraft from Manila to Miami non-stop, now setting the record for the longest non-stop flight ever set by a Philippine-carrier.
PR5112 from Manila to Miami was special flight to repatriate Filipino seafarers from Miami back to Manila with a technical stop at Los Angeles. So basically, PR5112 was a repositioning flight, and Miami was never in PAL’s destination list.
Beyond the 777-300ER average range
Based on great circle distance, Manila to Miami is around 9,314 mi. The average range of the Boeing 777-300ER aircraft is 7,370 mi. So how was this done? Well since this was a repositioning flight, the aircraft was virtually empty. At the same time, tail winds were at the flight’s favor, allowing it to fly the distance! However, this will not be the same for the return flight to Manila as the Boeing jet will already be carrying passengers and will be flying westward. Hence, the need for the aircraft to make a technical stop at Los Angeles.
However, PAL’s longest scheduled non-stop commercial flight is still its Manila to New York JFK flights utilizing and Airbus A350-900. It is also the 8th longest non-stop scheduled flight in the world.
