Qatar Airways launched the world’s longest commercial service with its inaugural flight from Doha to Auckland which took off on Sunday. Flight QR920 boarded at 05:02 (local time). The Boeing 777 flight will take 16 hours and 20 minutes passing over 10 time zones and five countries, covering a total distance of 14,535 kilometres as it lands at Auckland in New Zealand at 07:30 (local time on Monday).
The return time may, however, take 17 hours and 30 minutes, according to the company website. This will make it the world’s longest passenger service in terms of flying time, according to tracking website flightradar24. There are four pilots and fifteen crew members on the plane. 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 kilometres.
