Qatar Airways flight 921, which is set to be the longest scheduled commercial flight by flying time according to the airline’s website, took off on Tuesday (February 7) from Auckland on its way to Doha.
The flight was expected to take 17 hours and 30 minutes, according to flight tracking website flightradar24, and is expected to arrive in Doha at approximately 2200 local time (1900 GMT).
Qatar Airways is using a Boeing 777 on the 14,534 kilometre (9,031 mile) flight, it said.
Improvements in technology over the last decade have allowed more efficient fuel use, encouraging longer flights.
The previous record for the world’s longest scheduled flight by flying time was held by fellow Gulf carrier Emirates, which launched direct flights to Auckland from Dubai in March 2016.
Air India has a longer flight by distance, spanning 15,298 kilometres from Delhi to San Francisco; this takes 14 hours and 30 minutes, according to the Times of India.
(Reuters)
