MU551 distance and great-circle path
MU551 covers 9,241 km, or 5,742 miles. That makes it an ultra-long-haul flight, near the limit of what most twinjets can fly non-stop. Of the 255 routes we track, it ranks 81 by distance.
The plane leaves Shanghai heading north-west. On the map above, the line looks curved. That is normal. The shortest path over a round planet never looks straight on a flat screen. Our guide explains how the PVG–LHR route appears on a tracker map.
Why MU551 block time differs from cruise time
The schedule allows 12.8 hours from gate to gate. That works out to about 720 km/h. An Airbus A350-900 cruises faster than that. The gap is taxi time, climbing, descending and holding.
Winds aloft shift the real flight time by up to an hour in either direction. See how timing changes the trip in our red-eye flight guide.
Can the Airbus A350-900 comfortably fly MU551?
Not really. It uses about 62% of the Airbus A350-900's range. That leaves room for a full load of passengers and bags. The full numbers are on our aircraft page for the Airbus A350-900.
What to know about MU551
- Time change: you land 7 hours behind the time you left. That is enough to cause jet lag. Here is how pilots handle it.