At a distance of 12,392 kilometres, Air India is set to launch the longest non-stop flight in the world taking passengers from Bangalore to San Francisco. The gruelling 18-hour trip will get off the ground starting December 2nd, and will knock Emirates airline’s service from Dubai to Panama City, planned to be the globe’s longest regularly-scheduled flight, back into second place.
The Middle-Eastern airline had announced it would operate its 17-hour-35-minute journey, a whopping 13,800 kilometres, in August. But Air India, which made headlines earlier this month when the carrier demanded a number of its cabin crew lose weight, has one upped Emirates with its announcement yesterday.
Update: #AI CMD announces 3 times a week non-stop flt between Delhi - SFO - Delhi, also connecting to other major cities from Dec 02, 2015.
— Air India (@airindiain) September 27, 2015
If the new route between the Indian city, also known as Bengaluru, and the Californian hub of San Francisco can meet its December starting date, it will easily surpass Emirates’ long-haul trip, which is not scheduled to begin until February 1st, 2016.
Currently the longest regularly scheduled flight on Earth is the Australian national carrier Qantas’ non-stop service between Dallas-Fort Worth, a 13,800km trip taking 17 hours.
Airlines are increasingly requesting to carry out flights of longer and longer distances, as newew ultra-efficient jet engines and more lightweight materials are increasing fuel efficiency and reducing the number of stops that need to be made.
