Emirates to Launch World's Longest Flight...Again
The battle for the world's longest flight continues this week with the latest announcement from Emirates. Beginning March 1, 2016, the airline will begin nonstop service between Dubai (DXB) and Auckland (AKL) on Emirates' 777-200LR.
The flight's eastbound service is expected to clock in at just under 16 hours, whereas flights headed from Auckland to Dubai will be about 17 hours and 15 minutes. While it hasn't officially launched, the longest scheduled route was previously Emirates' Dubai to Panama City flight at 8,588 miles, but this new Auckland service is a tad longer at 8,824 miles.
Schedule (daily):
- EK448 Dubai (DXB) 10:05am Departure ⇒ Auckland (AKL) 11am (+1) Arrival
- EK449 Auckland (AKL) 9:30pm Departure ⇒ Dubai (DXB) 5:45am Arrival
The new route will be operated on Emirates' three-cabin 777-200LR aircraft and joins other flights servicing New Zealand via Australia.
Overall, it seems that Emirates is continuing its spree toward a truly global airline with flights connecting the farthest parts of the world through its Dubai hub. Earlier this month, Qatar Airways hinted that it was working to launch a similar flight to Auckland from Doha — it's unclear if that'll ever come to fruition, but so far Emirates remains at the forefront of opening these new ultra-long routes around the world.
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