UA1 distance and great-circle path
UA1 covers 13,580 km, or 8,438 miles. That makes it an ultra-long-range flight, one of the longest commercial sectors flown anywhere. Of the 439 routes we track, it ranks 14 by distance.
The plane leaves San Francisco 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 SFO-SIN route appears on a tracker map.
Why UA1 block time differs from cruise time
The schedule allows 16.9 hours from gate to gate. That works out to about 803 km/h. A Boeing 787-9 cruises faster than that. The gap is taxi time, climbing, descending and holding.
Flying west, this route pushes against the wind. The trip back east is usually shorter, even though the distance is the same. See how timing changes the trip in our red-eye flight guide.
Can the Boeing 787-9 comfortably fly UA1?
Yes. The route uses roughly 97% of what a Boeing 787-9 can fly. On a windy day the airline may carry less cargo to save fuel. Flights this close to the limit are the ones that sometimes make a fuel stop. The full numbers are on our aircraft page for the Boeing 787-9.
What to know about UA1
- Time change: you land 15 hours ahead of the time you left. That is enough to cause jet lag. Here is how pilots handle it.
- Crosses the date line: the calendar date changes while you are in the air.