As of today, the longest flight ever possible can occur only between Malaga (LEMG/AGP) and Auckland (NZAA/AKL) airports which are 19,944 km (12,392 mi) apart from each other. It does not yet seem possible for today’s passenger planes to connect to these farthest airports. There is still room for an additional 3,774 km (2,345 mi) range that could be the subject of competition in future passenger aircraft projects.
However, the situation is different for private jets.
According to official figures published by Boeing, the BBJ-777X has a range of 11,000 Nmi (20,372 km). Considering Earth’s half-circumference is 20,035 km (12,448 mi); 777X seems to have reached a range to cover the entire globe.
Thus, at least the range race in the business jet category has ended. Of course, the 777X is not in the same category as the business jets we are used to. However, it is not in the category of a claim or a plan either. It is a real model that is undergoing final work to obtain certification, that many airlines are eagerly waiting to add to their fleets, and that is months away from starting operations.
It is not known whether anyone will buy the BBJ-777X model, but at least in terms of technical capacity, it will go down in history as the model that ended the concept of “unflyable places”.