Air India launches world’s longest flight
Air India has flown into the record books by operating the world’s longest commercial flight.
The national carrier has switched its Delhi-San Francisco service, which had previously operated westwards over the Atlantic, to an eastbound routing across the Pacific. Covering 15,100km, this becomes the world’s longest air route, in terms of distance, operated by any commercial airline yesterday.
Interestingly however, the Pacific routing actually saves Air India time and fuel. Despite the extra distance, the flight actually took about two hours less (15 hours 55 minutes in total) to reach its destination. A senior AI official explained the reasons for this. “The Earth rotates from west to east, and winds flow in that direction too. Flying west means facing strong headwinds and flying east means getting strong tailwinds, which does the opposite,” the unnamed official was quoted saying by TNN.
“While taking the Atlantic route to SFO, we usually face headwinds of 24kph. This means that if our aircraft is doing 800kph, its actual ground speed is 776kph. Taking the Pacific route will mean getting tailwinds of 138kph, which make the aircraft have an actual ground speed of 938kph.”
AI’s 15,100km Delhi-San Francisco route surpasses Emirates’ 14,203km Dubai-Auckland service as the longest commercial air route currently in service. It fails however, to eclipse the 15,345km Singapore-New York route previously operated by Singapore Airlines. This service was terminated in 2013, but SIA is planning to resume the route in 2018.
World’s longest non-stop air routes:
1) Delhi-SanFrancisco (Air India) – 15,100km
2) Dubai-Auckland (Emirates) – 14,203km
3) Sydney-Dallas (Qantas) – 13,804km
4) Singapore-San Francisco (United and Singapore Airlines) – 13,593km
5) Atlanta-Johannesburg (Delta) – 13,582km
News Source: raveldailymedia.com
You might also like
Government open to the idea of listing Air India
The Centre is open to listing ailing state carrier Air India, a government source said on Wednesday, after failing to attract buyers for a 76 percent stake in the company.
New railway minister says all unmanned level crossings can be removed in a year
Newly appointed railway minister Piyush Goyal on Saturday said that the target of removing all unmanned level crossings could be achieved within a year, instead of the initial goal of
Get fired up at The Courtyard Grill!
Tantalize your tastebuds this winter with some fiery grills! With the advent of winter, it’s time to enjoy the beautiful evenings and explore some new options in the city. With
