GOL Launches World’s Longest Boeing 737 MAX Flight to Orlando, Florida

The Boeing 737 MAX is back in the news for all the right reasons.

Brazilian airline GOL has restarted service between Brasília (BSB) — the country’s capital city — and Orlando (MCO). Instead of flying via Punta Cana (PUJ) as it did before the pandemic, the route is now nonstop and has become the world’s longest operated by the Boeing 737 MAX aircraft.

Let’s take a look at the facts about GOL’s marathon Boeing 737 MAX route.

8 Hours on a Narrow-body Jet

With a maximum range of 4,039 miles (6,500 kilometers), the 3,777-mile (6,078-kilometer) journey between Brasília (BSB) and Orlando (MCO) is about as far as the aircraft can fly fully loaded with passengers and enough fuel on board for unplanned incidents.

Passengers can expect a flight time of just under 8 hours on the way to Orlando (MCO) and somewhere between 7 and 7.5 hours on the way back to Brasília (BSB).

There appears to be no rhyme or reason to the schedule of these flights: some months it operates every day and some weeks it doesn’t operate at all. However, when it is operating, at least the schedule is the same:

• Depart Brasília (BSB) 9:50 a.m. — Arrive Orlando (MCO) 5:10 p.m. 
• Depart Orlando (MCO) 10:10 p.m. — Arrive Brasília 7:10 a.m. (+1)

On Tuesday, May 17, 2022, GOL relaunches its second route between Brasília and Florida when another one of its MAX aircraft departs for Miami (MIA). The route will be the world’s fifth-longest operated by the aircraft type.

GOL’s Boeing 737 MAXs are made up of 186 economy-class seats in a 3-3 configuration. However, the airline blocks the middle seats of the first 5 rows of the jets that the airline sends to the U.S. for passengers in Gol Premium Class.

For business class die-hards who wouldn’t be able to stick out such a long flight without a lie-flat bed, an alternative way to get from Florida to Brasília (BSB) is by flying an American Airlines’ or LATAM’s wide-body to Rio de Janeiro (GIG) or São Paulo (GRU) and connecting to Brasília (BSB).

Bottom Line: It was recently announced that Brazilian GOL and fellow Latin American airline Avianca will be merging, opening up a new world of seamless 1-stop connections to Latin America from across the U.S. 

Final Thoughts

The longest Boeing 737 MAX route will arrive and depart from Orlando (MCO).

Brazilian airline GOL will operate the 3,777-mile, year-round, nonstop service between the country’s capital of Brasília (BSB) and the world-famous Floridian tourist destination.