Flight length

In aviation, the flight length or flight distance refers to the distance of a flight. Aircraft do not necessarily follow the great-circle distance, but may opt for a longer route due to weather, traffic, to utilise a jet stream, or to refuel.

Commercial flights are often categorized into long-, medium- or short-haul by commercial airlines based on flight length, although there is no international standard definition.

The related term flight time is defined by ICAO (International Civil Aviation Organization) as "The total time from the moment an aeroplane first moves for the purpose of taking off until the moment it finally comes to rest at the end of the flight", and is referred to colloquially as "blocks to blocks" or "chocks to chocks" time.^[1] In commercial aviation, this means the time from pushing back at the departure gate to arriving at the destination gate.^[2] Flight time is measured in hours and minutes as it is independent of geographic distance travelled. Flight time can be affected by many things such as wind, traffic, taxiing time, and aircraft used.^[3]