Longest Flight On MD82

paulcaz · Sat May 21, 2005 7:21 pm

Just Returned from Holiday to Egypt and was wondering how far a MD82 could fly as I flew Cairo to Rome which took nearly four hours with no IFE ! good old Alitalia.

The Aircraft I-DATD looked old and tired.

[email protected] · Sat May 21, 2005 7:37 pm

CAI-FCO took "nearly four hours"? How come? When I flew LHR-CAI-LHR (BA 744 machines) one leg took about 4 hours and the other about 4.5 hours! Unless you had a seriously strong tailwind (hmm) or were flying unusually slow (why?) then I would expect CAI-FCO to take 2 hours or so. When I fly AMS-CAI on 8th June, I expect that to take about 4 hours too.

[Edited 2005-05-21 12:41:39]

kl911 · Sat May 21, 2005 7:42 pm

I flew CPH-TLV with SK in 1998 using a MD-82. True, It was long...

KL911

cathay747 · Sat May 21, 2005 7:46 pm

Well, from the AIRCRAFT DATA & HISTORY section of this very website:

MD-81 - Max speed 925km/h (500kt), long range cruising speed 813km/h (440kt). Range with 155 passengers and reserves 2897km (1564nm).
MD-88 - Speeds same. Range with 155 passengers and reserves 4850km (2620nm).

Given that the MD-82 has a slightly higher takeoff weight, I'd guess the range would be around 2100nm.

My own personal longest haul was on an AA MD-82 LAX-BNA, which is 1797nm. And yes, thank God I had my Walkman with me to listen to music!!

paulcaz · Sat May 21, 2005 7:49 pm

Sorry it was about 3 hours forgot that Egypt was an hour in front on time.

[email protected] · Sat May 21, 2005 7:53 pm

Oooooh. Still, longer than I'd have expected. Smile

AZ is often the cheapest option on LON-CAI route. I was going to choose them (I actually really want the M80) but chose KL instead (M11 Big grin

). Anyway, I will stop hijacking your thread now.

PADSpot · Sat May 21, 2005 8:08 pm

Quoting CATHAY747 (Reply 3):
Well, from the AIRCRAFT DATA & HISTORY section of this very website:

Well, maybe I am allowed to give a good advice from my own experience. old

NEVER rely on a.net tech data. Especially not range data. I suffered some bad losses in discussions by using them wink

Jan

NYCAAer · Sun May 22, 2005 12:16 am

For a while in the early 1990s, AA used to fly an MD-80 on all-nighter nonstops between IAD and LAX!

Airlinerfreak · Sun May 22, 2005 12:22 am

I flew from ORD-LAX on an MD-82 and it was 1710 miles and about 4 and a half hours.

atrude777 · Sun May 22, 2005 3:05 am

I am seriously dreading flying ORD-RSW june 18th on AA its the MD82. 2 hours and a half scheduled time. Longest i have flown in an MD80 is STL-DFW. Sitting with my brother too, this will be long lol. We are flying STL-ORD first on AA obvisouly then chanigng ORD-RSW.
Alex

legacy135 · Sun May 22, 2005 4:07 am

In the 80-ties and early 90-ties Balair used to fly it's MD82 and the single MD83 on Zürich - Banjul and Zürich - Lomé, both with a fuel stop in Ghardaiha. We also did ZRH - Muscat with the MD83, this flight was routed trough Larnaca

In the same period Aero Lloyd was a frequent visitor to Mombasa with the MD80. As I understood this was with a fuel stop in Egypt, I think it was Assuan and I remember that once they couldn't take the passengers luggage on the way back otherwise they would have risked another fuel stop.

I also remember in late 1987 as Trans Swede flew with the MD80 for a Scandinavian Tour operator from Scandinavia via ?? to FLL.

My personal nonstop record on board a MD80 was in December 1988 on a ferry flight from Teheran to Zürich.

commavia · Sun May 22, 2005 4:16 am

Unless you are seated in about the last 4-6 rows of the MD80, I truly don't understand why everyone hates flying MD80s much!

Granted, if you are unlucky enough to be seated right next to the engine, than you might as well shoot yourself. Maybe I'm alone on this, but I have found pretty much any place else on that plane to be very comfortable, sometimes more so than 737s or A320s. I have flown a lot of MD80s and I actually find them to be some of the most comfortable flights, especially if you are seated in F or the front of Y. Up there, they are among the quietest cabins I have ever encountered.

legacy135 · Sun May 22, 2005 4:21 am

Quoting Commavia (Reply 11):
Unless you are seated in about the last 4-6 rows of the MD80, I truly don't understand why everyone hates flying MD80s much!

Granted, if you are unlucky enough to be seated right next to the engine, than you might as well shoot yourself. Maybe I'm alone on this, but I have found pretty much any place else on that plane to be very comfortable, sometimes more so than 737s or A320s. I have flown a lot of MD80s and I actually find them to be some of the most comfortable flights, especially if you are seated in F or the front of Y. Up there, they are among the quietest cabins I have ever encountered.

I absolutely do agree! I still prefer the MD80 over the 737 and the A320 when seated let's say overwing and forward.

Orion737 · Sun May 22, 2005 4:28 am

Airtours International regularly flew their MD83s on charter flights from Newcastle and Manchester to Tenerife and Fuerteventura non-stop and with a full compliment of passengers and baggage.

They also used the MD83 in the 90s on winter flights from Manchester to Banjul with a refueling stop in Tenerife. This was before the airline had any other aircraft with the required non-stop capability.

ckfred · Sun May 22, 2005 1:43 pm

AA is pulling the 737s out of ORD, so the MD-80 series will be flying out of ORD to SEA, PDX, SFO, LAX, and SAN. I think all westbound flights are timed over 4 hours.

If my calculations are correct, ORD-SFO is just over 1600 nm.

TUNisia · Sun May 22, 2005 2:16 pm

Quoting [email protected] (Reply 5):
Oooooh. Still, longer than I'd have expected. AZ is often the cheapest option on LON-CAI route. I was going to choose them (I actually really want the M80) but chose KL instead (M11 ). Anyway, I will stop hijacking your thread now.

Swiss was cheaper than AZ on the LHR-CAI-LHR routing. I'm flying Swiss (LHR-ZRH-CAI-ZRH-LHR) this summer and paid 240GBP. AZ is pretty cheap too on the route, but wasn't as cheap as Swiss. Swiss even offers the A340 from ZRH to CAI. I can't wait !! Swiss is a nice change from AZ, but I have to admit I love the AZ safety demo videos.

TS-IOR · Sun May 22, 2005 6:04 pm

What about Finnair's MD-80s to the Canaries and Madeira ?! Also Nouvelair used to fly MDs from MIR to OUL, the extreme north of Finland, which tooks almost 5 hours !!! The same airline, BJ, flew to JNB as a special football charter and made Africa from North to South, great Wink

captaink · Sun May 22, 2005 8:55 pm

I have done GND-JFK with BW's MD-83 and those flights were 4.5 hours. I know BW used to fly POS/YYZ on occasion with the MD's.

ushermittwoch · Sun May 22, 2005 9:47 pm

Quoting Ts-ior (Reply 16):
What about Finnair's MD-80s to the Canaries and Madeira ?! Also Nouvelair used to fly MDs from MIR to OUL, the extreme north of Finland, which tooks almost 5 hours !!!

I do believe that AY uses the 757 on those routes now. At least to Madeira.

[email protected] · Sun May 22, 2005 9:49 pm

Quoting TUNisia (Reply 15):
Swiss was cheaper than AZ on the LHR-CAI-LHR routing. I'm flying Swiss (LHR-ZRH-CAI-ZRH-LHR) this summer and paid 240GBP. AZ is pretty cheap too on the route, but wasn't as cheap as Swiss. Swiss even offers the A340 from ZRH to CAI. I can't wait !! Swiss is a nice change from AZ, but I have to admit I love the AZ safety demo videos.

Hence why I said 'often.'

LX does, indeed, normally offer good fares from LHR (as does OA), but its connections leave a lot to be desired - like 45 minutes in ZRH outbound (the return leg has 1 hour 25 mins in ZRH, which is fine).

I paid £242.10 for KL.

[Edited 2005-05-22 14:50:16]

PADSpot · Sun May 22, 2005 9:55 pm

Quoting Ts-ior (Reply 16):
Also Nouvelair used to fly MDs from MIR to OUL, the extreme north of Finland, which tooks almost 5 hours !!! The same airline, BJ, flew to JNB as a special football charter and made Africa from North to South, great Wink

The Finnish seem to be quite tough in this regard. Finnair flies tourists to SE-Asia on 757s ...

The longest flight on a MD82 variant/successor could be a ferry flight of Hawaiian Airs 717s between Hawaii and the mainland. The even had to install additional ferry tanks to make that distance possible ...

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cfm-56 · Sun May 22, 2005 11:29 pm

1990 from ARN to LPA with refuelling stop in Santiago de Compostela in northtern Spain with a Spanair MD-82, total flying time 7 hours..
We had a strong headwind and had to do an unplanned fuel stop in the middle
of the night.It was loong..

AnsettB727 · Mon May 23, 2005 1:53 am

I quite enjoy the 80s from LAX to ORD. The 2 - 3 seating gives it a less cramped feel.

777STL · Mon May 23, 2005 3:22 am

Quoting Atrude777 (Reply 9):
I am seriously dreading flying ORD-RSW june 18th on AA its the MD82. 2 hours and a half scheduled time. Longest i have flown in an MD80 is STL-DFW. Sitting with my brother too, this will be long lol. We are flying STL-ORD first on AA obvisouly then chanigng ORD-RSW.
Alex

2.5 hours is nothing. Sit in front of the wings and it will be one of the quietest flights you've ever been on.

I'm flying LAX-STL in August which is ~4 hours, shouldn't be too bad...

Bjones · Mon May 23, 2005 3:58 am

Alaska has four MD-83 aircraft that are fitted with long range tanks that they used to operate ANC-LAX (2346 miles). Now they operate the 737-700 on that route.

Cactus739 · Mon May 23, 2005 4:10 am

I did IAH-BOS on CO many years ago. 1597 miles, right around 4 hours.

atrude777 · Mon May 23, 2005 4:22 am

Quoting 777STL (Reply 23):
2.5 hours is nothing. Sit in front of the wings and it will be one of the quietest flights you've ever been on.

I'm flying LAX-STL in August which is ~4 hours, shouldn't be too bad...

haha, I am sitting behind the wing because I love to see the wings work and im hearing impaired so the noise does not bother me. I seriously do not understand putting an MD80 on the STL-LAX route. but oh well. funny thing is, id rather fly a WN 737 then an AA MD80. Weird I kno. I know the reasons why but I won't say it here.
Alex

BCNGRO · Mon May 23, 2005 4:23 am

Two years ago I flew an JK MD83 on a charter flight from BCN to LKL. It took 4 hours and 45 minutes. It was a very nice flight, when we left BCN the sun had just set and as we flew northwards it started to slowly rise again.

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pdxtriple7 · Mon May 23, 2005 5:16 am

I've done ORD-PDX, which took around 4 hours and is about 1739 miles on an AA MD80. I've also done SJD (Los Cabos)- SEA on an AS MD80, which took around 4 hours and 30 minutes and is 1814 miles.

Pdxtriple7

777STL · Mon May 23, 2005 6:03 am

Quoting Atrude777 (Reply 26):
haha, I am sitting behind the wing because I love to see the wings work and im hearing impaired so the noise does not bother me. I seriously do not understand putting an MD80 on the STL-LAX route. but oh well. funny thing is, id rather fly a WN 737 then an AA MD80. Weird I kno. I know the reasons why but I won't say it here.

I'd have flown WN but I'm not a big fan of unassigned seating, I'm in AAdvantage, and WN's routing would have had me going through PHX on the flight that I needed. I want to try WN but this isn't the trip to do so.

Back when TWA had STL-LAX it was usually a 757, in the later years at least. MD80s aren't bad planes, they just get a bad rep that they don't deserve.

stirling · Mon May 23, 2005 6:28 am

Quoting Commavia (Reply 11):
Unless you are seated in about the last 4-6 rows of the MD80, I truly don't understand why everyone hates flying MD80s much!

And neither do I Comm. My preference lies with the {Mad Dog}/{Diesel 9} to almost everything short/medium haul out there, especially when seated on the "2-seat" side.

Quoting Paulcaz (Thread starter):
Just Returned from Holiday to Egypt and was wondering how far a MD82 could fly as I flew Cairo to Rome which took nearly four hours with no IFE !

It has enough range to transport you the 1160nm.
You should have flown Egyptair, the A330 does it 5 minutes quicker.

4 hours without IFE? You poor thing. Will you be filing a formal complaint? You may want to forward a copy to EU headquarters as well, they enjoy haggling with Alitalia, they're looking forward to your correspondence.

Quoting Paulcaz (Thread starter):
good old Alitalia

I see what you mean...good old Alitalia, the bastards got you from point A to point B, and back to point A, ALIVE. No, I'm kidding, I don't see your point.

Next time may I suggest you research the company to which you'll be spending your hard-earned Euros with.

Sometimes I wish there were two levels of A.net.
Level One:
Soley for the serious discussion between men who share an academic interest into the inner workings of commercial aviation,
And then Level Two:
For ridiculously juvenile and inane complaints such as these.
Oh, and then a Third Level, for the people who can't spell and the people that hunt them down.....

Carry on.

aa61hvy · Mon May 23, 2005 6:36 am

I did ORD-SJD on AA. MD80. 4hrs 54 mins...Wasn't fun. Luckily I was in an exit and the seat next to me was empty.

VEEREF · Mon May 23, 2005 6:51 am

I would have thought the DTW-LAX on Spirit would have been pretty long

AR385 · Mon May 23, 2005 6:58 am

Stirling, you need to chill a bit.

I agree with Commavia. I love the MD-80's. Having flown all the series it's my favorite plane for short/medium range. I specially like the climb performance and of course, the quiet cabin.

optionscle · Mon May 23, 2005 7:01 am

AA flies BNA-LAX, that's up around 4+ hours I believe. They also fly DFW-YVR...that's got to be a long flight on a Super 80.

-Andrew

atrude777 · Mon May 23, 2005 7:03 am

777STL-
Yes I am also AADVANTAGE which is why I fly AA 90% of the time. But most of my flights have been 757's out of STL (MCO, DFW, ORD-are places im usually going to) so its been awhile since iv flown an MD80 on a long duration (reffering to ORD-RSW). I also fly Southwest numerous times too, and the service with WN has me loving them better then AA's service. Since I am hearing impaired as I mention I use it as a thing to get me on pre boarding so the non-assigned boarding doesnt affect me so much haha. feel free to hit me up on AIM (in my profile) if you wanna chat from one STL flyer to another.
Alex

stirling · Mon May 23, 2005 7:31 am

Quoting AR385 (Reply 33):
Stirling, you need to chill a bit.

I hoped that with my final comment on the subject, an insight to my nature might have been revealed:

Quoting Stirling (Reply 30):
Sometimes I wish there were two levels of A.net.
Level One:
Soley for the serious discussion between men who share an academic interest into the inner workings of commercial aviation,
And then Level Two:
For ridiculously juvenile and inane complaints such as these.
Oh, and then a Third Level, for the people who can't spell and the people that hunt them down

Might I add a Fourth Level to A.Net?:

A place where my dry and sometimes sardonic sense of humor (and that of others) isn't taken seriously or offends needlessly.
Wink

TUNisia · Mon May 23, 2005 7:35 am

Quoting [email protected] (Reply 19):
LX does, indeed, normally offer good fares from LHR (as does OA), but its connections leave a lot to be desired - like 45 minutes in ZRH outbound (the return leg has 1 hour 25 mins in ZRH, which is fine).

I paid £242.10 for KL.

That is a great fare you got on KLM. What AC do they use/times of flights? Swiss does have daylight flights, which is good. When checking carriers most seemed to have flights arriving in the early am hours. Why is it that most flights arrive so early into Cairo? We were going to fly Aeroflot direct from the US (JFK-SVO-CAI) and the fare was $732 per person with all taxes included. Flying AA to LHR from BOS instead and spending time there before going on to Egypt and eventually the Red Sea.

commavia · Mon May 23, 2005 8:03 am

Quoting Stirling (Reply 30):
My preference lies with the {Mad Dog}/{Diesel 9} to almost everything short/medium haul out there, especially when seated on the "2-seat" side.

Quoting AR385 (Reply 33):
I love the MD-80's. Having flown all the series it's my favorite plane for short/medium range. I specially like the climb performance and of course, the quiet cabin.

I suppose it's nice to know I'm not alone, and I, too, love the 2-seat side!

klmflyer · Mon May 23, 2005 8:16 am

I flew quite often between MXP (Milan-Malpensa, Italy) and SSH (Sharm-el-Sheikh, Egypt), and back of course, on a Eurofly's MD-82 which covers the 1858 miles distance with an almost 4-hour non-stop flight.

On another occasion, always while flying between MXP and SSH, the same MD-82 was making an en-route stop at AQJ (Aqaba, Jordan) on both legs (1802 miles, non stop from MXP).

SSH is a very popular resort destination, for the Italian market, on the southernmost tip of the Sinai, and the major resort area along the Red Sea Riviera.

For those interested in a great resort experience, I suggest trying the Four Seasons Resort Sharm-el-Sheikh. Simply the best in the region.

TUNisia · Mon May 23, 2005 1:19 pm

Quoting KLMflyer (Reply 39):
For those interested in a great resort experience, I suggest trying the Four Seasons Resort Sharm-el-Sheikh. Simply the best in the region.

The Four Seasons in Cairo are nice too, both of them. Mena House in Giza is another amazing property that has to be seen to be believed. There is nothing like laying in bed at night and seeing the pyramids lit up.

The other side of the Red Sea is more peaceful than Sharm I've found. I'll also suggest the Moevenpick Resort in El Quseir and the Sheraton Miramar Resort in El Gouna (fairytale resort designed by Michael Graves... you can get a room for around $60 USD a night B&B).

AR1300 · Mon May 23, 2005 1:44 pm

I flew Spirit on an MD-80 from ORD to LAX and it took about 4 hours.

Mike

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