Featured Image Credit: Getty Stock/flightradar24
Topics: Travel, Weird, World News, Science
Olivia Burke
Topics: Travel, Weird, World News, Science
If you're getting impatient while waiting for a brainiac to finally find a way to travel through time, booking a seat on one of these flights might be the next best thing.
Seeing as though the geniuses of the world are still struggling to come up with a viable way to defy the laws of physics so we can return to the past and visit the future, this is the closest thing you're going to get.
The only stipulations are that you would be travelling in a plane rather than something resembling Doctor Who's tardis, and you have to make the journey on New Year's Day.
So while you work out whether that's something you'd fancy next year, let's fill you in on what some excited passengers will be experiencing later this evening (31 December).
Advert
A host of people will have the chance to raise a glass to the dawn of a New Year twice thanks to the route their flights are taking today.
Those on board planes which cross the International Date Line (IDL) will effectively 'travel back in time', due to departing from their destination on 1 January but touching down in a place where it's still 2024.
For those who don't know, the IDL is an imaginary line across the Earth's surface which passes through the Pacific Ocean and sets a boundary between places with two different calendar dates.
Think of how Australia is pretty much one day in front of us lot in the UK - when you cross the date line travelling eastward, you lose a day.
Advert
If you're heading west, you gain a day. Simple, right?
The IDL has no legal international status and countries are free to choose the dates that they observe, according to the US National Ocean Service.
"While the date line generally runs north to south from pole to pole, it zigzags around political borders such as eastern Russia and Alaska’s Aleutian Islands," it explained.
"When you cross the date line, you become a time traveler of sorts! Cross to the west and it’s one day later; cross back and you’ve 'gone back in time'."
The IDL - which separates the Western and Eastern hemispheres and is the epicentre where each calendar day begins and ends - is located roughly halfway around the world from the prime meridian, the 0 degrees longitude line in Greenwich, England.
Advert
So now you've got your head around all of the confusing stuff, let's get down to the flight details.
Planes obviously cross the IDL throughout the rest of the year too, but if you want to quantum leap between years, you need a spot on a New Year's Day flight.
Take this United Airlines flight which is taking off from Guam, a US territory, on Wednesday (1 January) for example.
It's scheduled to take off from the Antonio B. Won Pat International Airport at 7.25am tomorrow morning for a seven hour and 15 minute journey to Honolulu, Hawaii.
Advert
So, those onboard will have already rang in the New Year the night before...but when they touch down, the passengers will have the opportunity to do it all over again.
That's because the travellers - or should I say 'time travellers' - will land at 6:40pm when it is still 31 December in Honolulu.
Although it's technically an internal flight, the plane will still cross the IDL.
United Airlines had a similarly timed flight scheduled last year too, telling customers: "You only live once, but you can celebrate New Year’s Eve twice!"
Unfortunately though, the journey was delayed significantly, meaning a double New Year was off the cards, according to the Independent.
Advert
You could also carry out this time travel schtick on flights that are travelling eastward across the IDL if they depart from places such as Tokyo or Sydney, too.
Brits who are struggling for plans obviously can't jump on this last minute, but it's certainly nice to know for next year.