This will make Qatar Airways the world’s longest passenger service in terms of flying time, according to tracking website flightradar24. Photo: AFP (file photo)Doha: Qatar Airways launched the world’s longest scheduled commercial service with its inaugural flight from Doha to Auckland taking off eight minutes early on Sunday, a company spokeswoman said. The Boeing 777 flight will take 16 hours and 20 minutes, pass over 10 time zones, five countries and travel 14,535 kilometres before reaching Auckland. This will make it the world’s longest passenger service in terms of flying time, according to tracking website flightradar24. In March last year, Emirates airline launched what was then thought to be the world’s longest non-stop scheduled commercial flight, with a service from Dubai to Auckland, spanning 14,200 km.

Source: Mint February 05, 2017 14:28 UTC