For obvious reasons, scheduled passenger Boeing 747 flights are diminishing fast. It is, of course, the same situation for other quadjet types. In the first half of 2026, the world will have 8,326 services on the Jumbo, 5% fewer than the same six months last year.

Scheduled passenger 747 operations remain in the hands of Air China, Korean Air, Lufthansa, and Rossiya (for Aeroflot). Other passenger operations include charter services with Atlas Air and in governmental or private roles worldwide. Of course, the vast majority of active 747s carry freight.

The World’s Longest Scheduled Flights: January Through June

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The passenger services are summarized below, with data based on the airlines’ schedule submissions to OAG. Unsurprisingly, Air China continues to take the top two spots. At a whopping 16h 55m, Washington Dulles back to Beijing Capital remains the world’s longest scheduled passenger 747 operation.

Regular flights on the 747-8i began less than a year ago, in March 2025. This variant has 365 seats, comprising 12 seats in first, 54 in business, 66 in premium economy, and 233 in economy. The very long block back to China is primarily because it avoids flying through Russian airspace. This appears to be a requirement for the airline to fly to the US.

In February 2026, CA817 will leave China at 4:00 pm and arrive in Virginia at 6:30 pm local time the same day. Returning, CA818 will depart Dulles at 10:00 pm and return at the horrendous time of 3:55 am two days later (16h 55m).

These Two Very Long Routes Were In The Top Ten Last Year

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Let’s return to January-June 2025. In those six months, Korean Air used the 368-seat 747-8i between Seoul Incheon and Atlanta and New York JFK. Timed at up to 15h 50m, Atlanta back to Incheon—a true SkyTeam route—ranked third-longest globally. Korean Air last had regular Jumbo flights on that long route in August 2025, after which the 777-300ER took over.

Blocked at up to 15h 45m, JFK back to Incheon was the world’s fourth-longest scheduled 747-operated flight worldwide. The 747-8i flew to the Big Apple until March last year. Since then, the airport pair has been in the hands of the A380 and 777-300ER. When writing, there is no indication that the airline’s passenger-configured 747s will return to Atlanta or JFK.

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The Longest Passenger 747-400 Flight Is 13h 50m

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Everyone knows that Lufthansa is the world’s largest user of passenger 747-8is and 747-400s. According to ch-aviation, it still has eight -400s. They average 25.8 years, which makes them the German giant’s second-oldest widebody, after the A340-300 (26.0 years). All of its 747-400s have 371 seats: 67 seats in business, 32 in premium economy, and 272 in economy. It is far less premium than its 747-8is.

Timed at up to 13h 50m, Shanghai Pudong back to Frankfurt is the joint-fourth-longest Jumbo service in the examined period. The route had the same block time in the first half of last year too. But while that market continues to see the 747-400, another service—that was also timed at 13h 50m in 2025—doesn’t. Seoul Incheon back to Germany’s busiest airport is longer on the 747 at all. Lufthansa now deploys the A350-900, with a much better product.