Aeromexico broke its longest flight record again with its first Hong Kong to Mexico City nonstop flight. The Mexican flag carrier operated the route as a cargo-only flight on September 11th, just barely edging out the airline’s previous longest flight record set in May.
Aeromexico arrives in Hong Kong
On September 10th, an Aeromexico Boeing 787-9 arrived in Hong Kong, marking the airline’s first-ever flight to the Southeast Asian city. The aircraft departed the previous day from Mexico City with a technical stop in Seoul, before landing in Hong Kong later in the day.
Then, on a private charter operation carrying cargo both in the hold and in the passenger cabin, the aircraft turned around and departed Hong Kong that night, bound for Mexico City. After over 15 hours, the jet landed in Mexico City early the next day on September 11th, making it the longest nonstop flight in Aeromexico’s history, just barely edging out the carrier’s previous record.
Speaking on the flight, Andres Conesa, CEO of Aeromexico, stated the following:
“I remain convinced that challenges represent new opportunities. Thanks to our customers, the Hong Kong Government, and the airport authorities, today, we reach a new goal in our 86-year history. Hong Kong becomes the sixth destination we have operated in the Asian continent, and the longest flight we have served. I thank the Aeromexico family for continuing to take the name of Mexico to the top.”
The details of this flight
Data from Flightradar24 shows that the aircraft departed Hong Kong and made its way northeast tracking over China before turning further east where it flew over the western Japanese coastline, passing north of Tokyo before tracking the great circle route over the northern Pacific Ocean. Towards the end of the flight, the jet flew over California, passing by major cities like San Francisco and Los Angeles, before entering Mexican airspace and heading straight in for Mexico City. All in all, the flight took around 15 hours and 25 minutes.
This flight barely edged out Aeromexico’s previous longest flight from Shenzen back in May. The Hong Kong route was only 55 more kilometers (~34 miles) further than the Shenzen route.
Aeromexico used a Boeing 787-9 for this flight. The aircraft, registered as XA-ADC is only three years old and routinely serves some of Aeromexico’s long-haul routes to cities like Sao Paulo, Seoul, Barcelona, Amsterdam, and more. Amid the ongoing crisis, the airline has also used this jet for cargo-only flights, such as this one.
Why not a nonstop from Mexico City?
The Boeing 787-9, without carrying a full load of passengers, could easily do a journey of over 14,000 kilometers (about 8700 miles), but Mexico City is not your average airport. As a hot and high airport, an aircraft’s performance is not the same. This limits the number of long-haul and ultra-long-haul routes, hence Emirates’ Mexico City to Dubai via Barcelona route. However, for aircraft heading to Mexico City, it becomes less of an issue.
That being said, airlines can do some long-hauls to cities in China, like Shanghai, Tokyo, and Seoul. Aeromexico uses the Boeing 787s for all of these flights.
What do you think about Aeromexico’s flight from Hong Kong? Let us know in the comments!
