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The World's Longest Ever Commercial Domestic Flight Took 16 Hours And 20 Minutes

The World's Longest Ever Commercial Domestic Flight Took 16 Hours And 20 Minutes

The flight went from Tahiti's Faa'a International Airport to Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris

Claire Reid

Claire Reid

The world's longest ever commercial domestic flight took a whopping 16 hours, 20 minutes and travelled 15,715 kilometres (9,765 miles).

Although the flight went between Tahiti's Faa'a International Airport near Papeete to Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris, France, it was considered a 'domestic' flight as French Polynesia is part of the French Republic.

The extra-long flight was introduced in response to the coronavirus pandemic.

PA

French airline Air Tahiti Nui, which operated the flight, cut out the flight's usual stopover in Los Angeles due to restrictions on European flights landing in the US.

Rather than cancel the route altogether, Air Tahiti Nui decided to instead fly direct from one destination to another.

The route was first launched in 2020 as Flight TN64, departing from Faa'a International Airport at 3.14am local time on 15 March and arriving at Charles de Gaul Airport at 5.59am local time - flying nonstop for 15 hours and 46 minutes.

But it had an even longer journey on 19 March and it ended up spending 16 hours, 20 minutes in the air, according to airportinfo.live.

In a statement to CNN, a spokesperson from Air Tahiti Nui said: "This flight was operated on an exceptional basis and within the constraints imposed by the American authorities in the face of the Covid-19 epidemic."

The flight ran throughout March and April, until its final flight on 19 April.

In a statement at the time, Nicholas Panza, Vice President, Americas at Air Tahiti Nui said of the world record breaking flight: "The health and safety of our passengers is always our first priority.

"With flight path challenges given the current global travel restrictions, we made the decision to operate our Papeete to Paris route as a nonstop flight in order to get our passengers safely home.

"We are honoured that in flying our new Boeing 787-9 Tahitian Dreamliner nonstop to Paris, we simultaneously made history for achieving the world's longest domestic and international flight."

Featured Image Credit: PA

Topics: World News