De rit naar het vliegveld was langer dan we dachten.

Rit usually means a ride or trip by vehicle: for example by car, bus, taxi, or train. In this sentence, it fits well because it suggests the journey to the airport as a single ride.

• rit = a ride/trip, often by transport
• reis = a journey/trip in a broader sense, often longer or more general
• tocht = a trip, tour, or trek; it can sound more deliberate, scenic, or adventurous

So de rit naar het vliegveld sounds like the ride to the airport, while de reis naar het vliegveld would sound a bit broader or less specific.

Dutch nouns take either de or het as their definite article.

• de rit → rit is a de-word
• het vliegveld → vliegveld is a het-word

Unfortunately, this is something you often have to learn noun by noun, although there are patterns. For example, many diminutives are always het words, but vliegveld is not a diminutive; it is simply a noun that happens to take het.

This matters for:

• the article: de / het
• pronouns later: de rit might become die, while het vliegveld might become dat

Naar is the normal preposition for movement toward a destination or to a place.

So:

• naar het vliegveld = to the airport
• naar school = to school
• naar huis = homeward / to home

It tells you where the ride was going.

Dutch usually forms the comparative of short adjectives by adding -er, just like English often adds -er.

• lang = long
• langer = longer

So:

• De rit was lang.
• De rit was langer.

Dutch does not normally say meer lang in this context. The standard comparative form is langer.

Dan is the standard word used after a comparative in Dutch, like than in English.

• langer dan = longer than
• groter dan = bigger than
• sneller dan = faster than

So:

• langer dan we dachten = longer than we thought

A common learner mistake is confusing dan with als. In standard Dutch:

• dan is used after a comparative
• als is used in equality comparisons

For example:

• groter dan ik = bigger than me
• even groot als ik = as big as me

After dan, Dutch often uses clause word order similar to a subordinate clause, where the conjugated verb goes later in the clause.

So:

• we dachten = we thought

Here the clause is:

• dan we dachten = than we thought

This is very normal Dutch word order in this kind of comparison.

You can think of it as a shortened version of:

• dan we dachten dat hij zou zijn
• literally something like: than we thought it would be

But Dutch often leaves part of that unstated because it is understood from context.

Yes, in a way. Dutch often leaves out information that is already obvious.

In English, longer than we thought also leaves out the full idea:

• longer than we thought it would be

Dutch does the same:

• langer dan we dachten
• understood: langer dan we dachten dat de rit zou zijn

So nothing is wrong or incomplete; it is just naturally shortened.

Yes, absolutely. That is a very natural alternative.

Compare:

• De rit ... was langer dan we dachten.

  • focuses on the ride as being longer than expected

• De rit ... duurde langer dan we dachten.

  • focuses more directly on the duration

Both are good Dutch. The second one may even sound a bit more explicit, because duren means to last.

Because the sentence describes something in the past.

• is = present tense
• was = past tense of zijn

So:

• De rit was langer... = The ride was longer...

This tells you the speaker is talking about a completed ride, not one happening right now.

Because the subject is we.

The verb denken in the simple past is:

• ik dacht = I thought
• jij dacht = you thought
• hij/zij dacht = he/she thought
• wij/we dachten = we thought
• jullie dachten = you all thought
• zij dachten = they thought

Since the sentence says we, the correct form is dachten.

No. Another very common word is luchthaven.

Both can mean airport, but there is a slight difference in feel:

• vliegveld literally means something like flying field
• luchthaven literally means air harbor

In practice:

• luchthaven is often a bit more formal or official
• vliegveld is very common in everyday speech

So you may hear both:

• naar het vliegveld
• naar de luchthaven

No, not in standard Dutch.

You need the subject:

• dan we dachten

If you removed we, the clause would be incomplete. Dutch normally requires the subject to be stated unless there is some special structure, and this is not one of those cases.

A slightly more formal version might be:

• De rit naar de luchthaven was langer dan wij dachten.

Differences:

• luchthaven sounds more formal than vliegveld
• wij is the full form of we and can sound a bit more formal or emphatic

But the original sentence is completely natural and correct in everyday Dutch.