Which flights are considered long-haul flights?

Regulators and governments of different countries still cannot agree on which flights are long-haul and which are short-haul.

Any traveler often hears the terms "long-haul" or "short-haul" flight. But what do these definitions really mean?

There is no uniform standard in this regard: the International Air Transport Association (IATA) does not define short- and long-haul flights.

A thesis is also being written about the duration of the flights

The CAPA Center for Aviation defines a long-haul flight as any long-haul international flight that is typically intercontinental and lasts at least six hours. And short-haul is "a short flight, usually domestic or regional, lasting less than six hours."

Even entire dissertations have been written on this topic. The author of one such paper, Agatha Kessler Fentress from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, presented a study in the summer of 2022, according to which the determination of flight duration is directly related to the airline's self-positioning in the market. For example, Southwest defines a short-haul flight as a flight of less than 800 km, while United Airlines considers a short-haul flight to be within 1,200 km. For its part, the researcher agrees with Southwest.

How do the UK and EU define flight duration?

The UK's Civil Aviation Authority, for example, disagrees with the EU. Local law divides flights into three categories:

Short-haul flights or up to 1,500 kilometers (for example, Glasgow - Amsterdam)

A medium-haul flight, or 1,500-3,500 kilometers (eg East Midlands to Marrakesh)

A long-haul flight or more than 3000 kilometers (for example, from London to New York).

Eurocontrol, for its part, disagrees with the UK Civil Aviation Authority. The European organization defines the following categories:

Very short flight - less than 500 km.

Short flight – from 500 km to 1500 km.

Medium distance flight – from 1500 km to 4000 km.

Long-distance flight - more than 4000 km.