The Shortest Flight in the World Is Going Green

If you're tired of hearing about the newly minted longest flight in the world and its many amenities, here is a fun little tidbit of information from the other side of the flight-length spectrum: The shortest flight in the world is looking to fly electric.

For a little background, the shortest flight in the world currently flies for 1.7 miles in Scotland between Westray and Papa Westray in the Orkney Islands. It's operated by Loganair and uses a variety of small airplane models.

The aircraft is the Britten Norman Islander, which can only seat up to 8 people. Its current record flight length is a brief 53 seconds long.

However, Loganair is looking to make some environmentally friendly changes to its small planes and short flights. "We have been looking into new propulsion technology to make aircraft more environmentally friendly," Paul Hutton, the chief executive officer of Cranfield, where the flight takes off, told BBC Scotland. "The challenge is getting the technology into a place that's suitable for commercial service."

"It would be a remarkable achievement if the first electric-powered commercial aircraft operated here as well," said Orkney Islands Council Leader James Stockan. The route of the shortest flight in the world is ideal for electric plane operation, as the length of the route would leave less room for error."

Currently, the airline is working toward getting the technology (quite literally) off the ground by 2021.

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