6 Passenger Jets With Incredibly Long Range
Long range air travel has generally made life a lot easier for everyone across the planet. No longer do you have to make multiple stops to a faraway destination, prolonging the oftentimes stressful time at airports. To allow for longer and longer flights, aircraft manufacturers and engineers are constantly innovating to make airliners more and more efficient, reducing the amount of fuel used as it's one of the more limiting factors at play. Unlike military aircraft, a passenger jet carrying people on vacation can't rely on something like a KC-135 Stratotanker to refuel. It has to make the whole trip without stopping.
Passenger jets are getting more and more efficient by the year and even smaller passenger jets like the Airbus A321 XLR have a range of up to 4,700 nautical miles (5,408 miles) before needing to refuel. Going up the ladder of efficiency, there are several more passenger jets with much longer ranges. Even some private jets are capable of extremely long hauls.
Airbus A350-900ULR
The undisputed king of distance is the Airbus A350-900 ULR, with a range of 9,700 nautical miles (11,162 miles), meaning that it can travel to most destinations in the world on a single fill up. It's capable of more than 20 hours of non-stop flying, according to Airbus. It is, as of April 2024, the longest range commercial aircraft bar none. As the name suggests, it is able to carry up to 350 passengers in a normal configuration. However, it can reportedly be outfitted to carry 440 passengers, although the extra weight of 90 extra passengers and luggage would likely have a detriment on range.
It's powered by a pair of ultra-efficient Rolls-Royce Trent XWB engines that were designed with the A350 in mind, allowing for a more cohesive design to benefit fuel economy. For fuel capacity, it's capable of carrying 43,981 gallons to take it the distance.
Airbus A350-1000
The second-longest range passenger aircraft in service today is also a variant of the Airbus A350, the A350-1000. It can go 8,700 nautical miles (10,011 miles) without needing to refuel, giving it incredible capability over other aircraft when it comes to long-haul flights. Like the A350-900 ULR, it carries around 350 passengers in a normal seating arrangement. It also utilizes the same Rolls-Royce engines.
However, the A350-1000 differs from the A350-900 ULR in that it's much longer, measuring at just over 242 feet long, compared to the A350-900 ULR's 219 feet length. With the extra length, 410 passengers can safely ride in the jet. It also weighs considerably more. The A350-1000 also carries less fuel when fully loaded, at a total of 43,324. Still, over 10,000 miles of range is nothing to sneeze at. The A350-1000 only loses out because it's carrying more weight with less fuel for the journey.
Boeing 777-200LR
Boeing's answer for long-range jets is the Boeing 777-200LR that ranks in at 8,555 nautical miles (9,844 miles). It's powered by two huge General Electric GE90 series engines that each generate 115,300 pounds of thrust, giving it insane levels of power. In its standard configuration, it is able to carry 317 passengers in relative luxury to a fast majority of airports around the world with minimal interruptions.
Compared to other aircraft on this list, it's not a particularly large plane, measuring in at 209 feet, one inch long and a wingspan that measures in at 212 feet, seven inches. Even though it misses out to the two Airbus A350 variants that top the list, and the fact that Boeing has had taken a beating in headlines as of late, it's still one of the most advanced aircraft flying today, with thousands upon thousands of miles of incident-free flight.
Bombardier Global 8000
If you were to just list the longest range commercial aircraft in use today, the top of the list would be entirely populated with different variations of the Airbus A350 and Boeing 777. However, that does not give a complete picture of what aerospace companies are developing when it comes to truly globally reaching jets. Bombardier, a company typically associated with regional jets from smaller airports or defense and private applications, produces the Global series of jets.
The Global 8000 has an advertised range of 8,000 nautical miles (9,206 miles). It also boasts one of the highest top speeds in its particular corner of the market at 0.94 Mach (721 miles per hour at sea level). It's powered by a pair of General Electric Passport engines.
Unlike many other aircraft on this list, the Global 8000 can't carry hundreds of passengers. It's rated for only 19 people at maximum capacity, but when you have a business meeting on the other side of the world, and you need to get there as quick as possible, the Global 8000 is ready for the job.
Gulfstream G800
Gulfstream definitely leans more towards the private end of the aviation industry. Yet despite its prevalence in pop culture, Gulfstream makes serious jets. Still in the very late prototype stage is the Gulfstream G800, which, like the Bombardier, is capable of an 8,000 nautical mile (9,206 mile) range. That means you can fly from New York City to Tokyo, Japan on a single trip. It's slightly slower than the Bombardier Global 8000 with a maximum speed of 0.925 Mach (709 miles per hour at sea level). Gulfstream's bread and butter is extremely high-end planes with impossibly luxurious cabins. The G800 can carry up to 19 passengers and sleep up to 10, according to Gulfstream's site. It's a multi-million dollar RV that can fly at over 700 miles per hour.
The G800 is powered by two Gulfstream Pearl engines that each output 18,250 pounds of thrust. It has an advertised interior cabin volume of 2,138 cubic feet, which is roughly 21 times that of a 2024 Subaru Outback.
[Featured image by Matti Blume via Wikimedia Commons | Cropped and scaled | CC BY-SA 4.0]
Dassault Falcon 8X
Rounding out the list is the Dassault Falcon 8X with a range of 6,450 nautical miles (7,422 miles). It's notably less than extremely high-end competitors, but still leaps and bounds better than most passenger jets. Taylor Swift has been known to fly in a Dassault Falcon 7X. It has a maximum cruising altitude of 51,000 feet and can carry between 12 and 16 passengers. Unlike the other aircraft on this list, the Dassault Falcon 8X is powered by three engines instead of two. Each Pratt and Whitney Canada PW307D engine outputs 6,722 pounds of thrust.
The fact that the Falcon 8X is significantly less powerful than the jets from Gulfstream and Bombardier, yet can still exceed 7,000 miles of range, speaks to Dassault's emphasis on efficiency. Dassault also prides itself on the Honeywell developed avionics and flight control system used by the Falcon 8X. Reportedly, it was developed from the flight control system used by another Dassault aircraft aviation fans may be familiar with, the Rafale fighter jet.