Longest flight cut short
The entire journey could still be called the "longest night" for passengers.
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A late departure of an Emirates super jumbo Airbus A380 established a new claimant for the world's longest flight but it fell short of the scheduled flying time.
The delay was attributed to the flight crew being caught in Auckland traffic congestion.
The A380 flight was a one-off and the regular new Dubai-Auckland nonstop service will use a Boeing 777-200LR (long range).
The Auckland-Dubai leg is scheduled at 17 hours 15 minutes but the A380 did it in 16 hours 25 minutes after taking off at 10.20pm on Wednesday and arriving right on schedule at 5.45am local time in Dubai on Thursday.
The A380 carried less than its usual passenger load to allow for the extra fuel needed for the flight.
Emirates' claim for the mantle of the world's longest flight rests not just on time but distance.
It will retain the time when a new Dubai-Panama route starts at the end of the month. But Dubai-Auckland will remain the longest at 14,200km or 8824 miles.
The speedier than usual time was due to favourable conditions and a top speed of around 895kph. The route was "as the crow flies" across Australia and the Indian Ocean.
The entire journey could be called the "longest night" for passengers as daylight in Dubai doesn't arrive until after 6am.
For more on the Auckland to Dubai service click here.
Disclosure: Nevil Gibson flew the Auckland-Dubai nonstop route courtesy of Emirates Airline
Tune into NBR Radio’s Sunday Business with Andrew Patterson, launching this Sunday morning, for analysis and feature-length interviews.
Nevil Gibson
Fri, 04 Mar 2016
Fri, 04 Mar 2016
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Longest flight cut short
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