Air India Operates the world’s Longest Flight in the Shortest Time!

Air India, the flag carrier airline of India, has set a new record that has taken the world of aviation with surprise. The carrier has the credit of operating the longest, non-stop flight in the world in the shortest time duration! The said flight was between Delhi and San Francisco; a distance of 15300 km covered in just 14.5 hours. The fact that has taken the world by surprise is that the flight took the trans-Pacific route, which is longer than the usual Atlantic route.

Yes, and the impossible has opened owing to an impossible yet simple sounding fact that used the wind direction to increase speed! The trans-Pacific route taken by the said Air India flight is 1400 km longer than the Atlantic route, but made use of flying in the same direction as the wind.

Expert opinions suggest that flying on the shorter Atlantic route would have led to flying against the wind, leading to decreased speed as well as increased fuel consumption, eventually making this shorter route longer in terms of time. Flying with the wind current rather than against the wind also led to saving a mammoth 13 tonnes of fuel! Now, Air India has decided to operate more flights on similar lines on the route.

The Emirates held the record of operating the longest flight in the world prior to Air India’s feat, clocking in 14200 km in 16.5 hours on the Dubai-Auckland route.

Source: ToI

Image Courtesy: NDTV