World’s Longest One-Stop Flight Launched by China Eastern via Auckland

Published:

June 23, 2025

Updated:

June 23, 2025

World’s Longest One-Stop Flight Launched by China Eastern via Auckland

China Eastern Airlines has unveiled a two-continent route that rewrites long-haul maps. The carrier will link Shanghai Pudong and Buenos Aires Ezeiza with a technical stop in Auckland, creating the world’s longest one-stop service when it launches in December 2025.

This new link runs almost 19,600 kilometers in total great-circle distance. No current airframe can span that stretch nonstop with viable payload, so the Auckland split turns an otherwise theoretical path into a mid-Pacific reality. Twice-weekly rotations will use Boeing 777-300ERs configured for 316 passengers.

Industry sources say China Eastern secured provisional slots at both Auckland and Ezeiza last week. Local regulators still need to sign off on traffic rights, but officials in all three countries describe the filing as routine. The carrier already serves Shanghai–Auckland daily with Airbus A350-900s, giving it long-standing ground support in New Zealand.

The airline frames the extension as a natural move. Freight demand between East Asia and South America has risen since mid-2024, led by lithium products, chilled seafood, and high-value electronics. A direct southern-hemisphere bridge trims up to eight hours compared with routings that detour through North America or Europe.

Defense officials confirm that air mobility planners have tracked the project for months. Wide-body range tests over the South Pacific give engineers fresh data on ETOPS performance near polar converging tracks. That data should flow to both civil and military certification offices.

From an airline-network view, the flight plugs three market gaps at once:

China–Argentina had no direct or one-stop link; 2024 passenger flows topped 57,000 despite the circuitous journeys.
New Zealand–Argentina fell 53 percent below 2019 volume after Air New Zealand exited the sector.
Pan-Pacific South-South corridors remain underserved, especially for perishables moving between agricultural exporters.

China Eastern will exercise fifth-freedom rights on the Auckland–Buenos Aires leg. That lets travelers book either segment without passing through Shanghai and lets the airline price seats aggressively against indirect competitors. Rival carriers LATAM and Qantas currently dominate South-Pacific flows; both depend on smaller 787-9 and A350 fleets, giving the 777-300ER an edge in belly-cargo capacity.

Auckland Airport has invested in larger transit halls and upgraded security lanes that can channel two wide-bodies at once. Management expects an extra NZ $48 million in annual visitor spend, driven by Chinese tourists who can now transit visa-free for up to 24 hours. The airport’s latest checkpoint design uses high-speed computed-tomography scanners, cutting average screening time below three minutes per passenger.

Argentina gains a new gateway for Chinese trade just as Buenos Aires modernizes its international pier. Customs authorities forecast a 15 percent lift in east-bound agricultural exports during the first full scheduling year. Soymeal, wine, and chilled beef top the manifest list.

Operational planners chose a southerly great-circle track that skirts Antarctic control areas but avoids severe jet-stream headwinds common farther north. Flight-plan studies show forecast block times of roughly:

PVG → AKL: 11 h 20 m east-bound, 12 h west-bound
Ground time AKL: target 95 minutes
AKL → EZE: 11 h 35 m east-bound, 12 h west-bound

Total journey: about 23 hours gate-to-gate heading east, slightly more west-bound. That figure puts the itinerary in the same endurance class as Singapore–New York nonstop but with a midway break for refuel and crew swap.

System engineers highlight several technical points:

Aircraft: General Electric GE90-115B engines with enhanced low–NOₓ combustors.
ETOPS: 330-minute clearance, giving a lateral deviation envelope that covers limited diversion fields in the South Pacific.
Navigation: Dual-frequency SBAS-augmented GNSS plus Inmarsat SwiftBroadband L-band for cockpit data.
Fuel load: Roughly 150 metric tons at departure, with Auckland uplift topping 115 tons on the second sector.

Crew planners will stage three captains and an equal number of first officers in a two-rest-bunk rotation. Cabin staffing totals fifteen. According to industry sources, the carrier has already booked layover rooms near Ezeiza’s expanded crew-rest complex.

Trade economists note the route’s freight upside. Lithium carbonate from northern Argentina now travels by ship to Chinese battery plants in Shanghai and Ningbo; air delivery could grow for higher-purity grades. The flight also feeds Argentine cherry exporters who target late-December demand peaks in China’s coastal megacities. Our analysis shows even a modest ten-ton belly-hold utilization lifts margins enough to absorb the long sector’s fuel burn.

Passenger demand sits on firmer ground after China granted thirty-day visa-free entry to Argentine citizens last week. Reciprocal talks for Chinese travelers continue, yet business groups expect streamlined e-visas by early 2026.

For New Zealand, the return of an Argentina link rebuilds a post-pandemic hole in long-haul lift. Tourism boards outline joint campaigns with Patagonia adventure operators and wine-route councils. That traffic pairs well with premium-market swings seats on the 777-300ER’s four-class layout:

6 first
52 business
48 premium economy
210 economy

The aircraft’s cargo hold stays unobstructed because the cabin adds premium seats without installing lower-lobe crew rest.

Commercial analysts view the timing as opportunistic. Boeing’s latest South Pacific freighter forecasts show double-digit compound growth through 2030, while passenger yield recovery remains patchy. China Eastern can test demand without dedicating new frames; two 777-300ERs now assigned to shorter intercontinental runs free up in October after A350 deliveries arrive.

Aviation insurers have reviewed the route’s risk matrix. They flag sparse diversion options between Tahiti Faa’a and Punta Arenas. However, satellite weather from Himawari and GOES-17 plus space-based ADS-B now offer continuous surveillance over the sector. Safety offices accept the risk-mitigation measures.

Noise abatement at both stop points also passes muster. Auckland’s latest Stage 5 take-off corridor favors augmented-thrust climbs that keep homes under 70 dB. Ezeiza’s night curfew does not affect the proposed east-bound arrival window, which planners slot at 05:45 local.

Latin American defense watchers read broader meaning in the move. China’s military-civil fusion policy often piggybacks on commercial footprints; a sustained Chinese presence in the South Atlantic basin gives planners cause to track dual-use logistics. For now, the mission remains pure passenger and freight service, yet the data generated on polar flight performance could inform future wide-body procurement in state-owned fleets.

Market intelligence from Sabre shows China–Argentina traffic grew 12 percent year-on-year in the first quarter of 2025 even before any direct lift existed. If the Auckland stop captures just half of that latent demand, load factors break even on the Buenos Aires sector by week eight.

Timelines appear realistic. Terminal upgrades at Shanghai Pudong’s satellite concourse will finish by September. Fuel-hydrant extensions at Auckland’s Gate 15 go live in October. Ezeiza installs an extra hydrant cart this month to support simultaneous 777 fueling and catering.

Looking ahead, China Eastern hints at possible frequency increases once its 777X order clears certification. That jet would shave fuel burn by 11 percent on the same route and open a three-weekly schedule with one additional frame.

In sum, the Shanghai–Auckland–Buenos Aires corridor positions China Eastern at the center of a south-south network reshuffle. The airline gains first-mover status, three economies secure new trade channels, and aerospace engineers collect valuable polar-route data. Launch remains contingent on regulatory approvals, but all operational pieces line up for a successful debut this December.

World’s Longest One-Stop Flight Launched by China Eastern via Auckland

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