Qatar Airways pinched the record from Middle Eastern rival EmiratesCredit:
2013 Getty Images/Jeff Schear
Qatar
Airways has launched the world’s longest non-stop commercial flight, a
9,032-mile (14,535km) marathon from Doha to Auckland, New Zealand.
The inauguration of the colossal service took place yesterday, with
the arrival of a Boeing 777-200LR in Auckland at 725am on Monday local
time (625pm GMT on Sunday) - five minutes ahead of schedule.
The journey lasted 16 hours and
23 minutes and crossed 10 time zones, with Qatar Airways quick to point
out that passengers on board would have had time to watch all three
films in the Lord of the Rings trilogy (9 hours 18 minutes of viewing),
which was shot in New Zealand. It added that four pilots were on board,
as well as 15 cabin crew, who served 1,100 hot drinks, 2,000 cold drinks
and 1,036 meals to passengers.
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The title of “world’s longest flight” seems to be a sought-after
accolade within the airline industry. Last year, Air India appeared to
have seized the mantle when it switched the direction of its Delhi-San Francisco service,
flying over the Pacific instead of the Atlantic to take advantage of
favourable jet streams (it still flies via the Atlantic on the return
leg).
The change increased the journey’s total distance, according to Air
India, from 8,673 miles (13,900km) to 9,506 miles (15,300km).
However, the distance between to two cities is only 7,668 miles
(12,341km), according to Google Maps, compared to the 9,028 miles
(14,529km) that separate Doha and Auckland, so Qatar Airways has a far
more solid claim to the record.
Direct flights from London to Perth will start in 2018Credit:
Taras Vyshnya
VladZetter@gmail.com/Taras Vyshnya
The new route trumps its Middle Eastern rival Emirates, whose
Dubai-Auckland service, launched in March last year, is a shade shorter
at 8,824 miles (14,200km).
