Lasting 29 Hours, The World's Longest Commercial Scheduled Flight Is Set To Take Off This Week

China Eastern Airlines is set to launch the world’s longest scheduled air route, a marathon journey spanning roughly 20,000 kilometers (12,427 miles) across the Pacific between China and Argentina.

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The debut flight will depart on December 4 from Shanghai Pudong International Airport at 02:00 Beijing time, according to an announcement from the airline. After a 2-hour 25-minute stopover in Auckland, it will then fly eastward over the Pacific Ocean and arrive in Buenos Aires as early as 16:30 local time the same day. Total flight time: 25 hours and 55 minutes.

If the sheer thought of that isn’t enough to give you jet lag, the return leg is even longer. 

The aircraft will depart Buenos Aires at 02:00 local time, fly westward over the Pacific, before making a 2-hour stopover in Auckland. It will then complete the final stretch, touching down in Shanghai at 18:00 Beijing time the following day. Total flight time: 29 hours.

Following this week’s maiden journey, China Eastern plans to operate the service every Tuesday and Thursday.

The airline didn’t express why they’re suddenly offering this mammoth journey, but there have been suggestions that China is keen to expand international air links in light of its growing unilateral visa-exemption agreements, which include Argentina. The South American nation is a major producer of beef, soy, and lithium, all of which are in hot demand in the Chinese market.

Over the years, many airlines have claimed they offer the “longest scheduled flight” as part of their marketing campaigns. It depends on how you measure it, but most agree the title goes to Singapore Airlines for their flight from Singapore Changi to New York JFK, which covers a distance of 15,349 kilometers (9,537 miles) and takes more than 18 hours.

This distinction holds because it’s a regularly scheduled service that has operated consistently for a significant chunk of time. There have been other contenders for the longest commercial flight, but many of those journeys were one-offs or short-lived offerings.

In the world of non-commercial flight ventures, much longer journeys have been made. Somewhat unbelievably, the longest endurance flight record was broken in 1959 and remains undefeated. Two pilots flew around Las Vegas for 64 days, 22 hours, and 19 minutes, covering a total of 240,000 kilometers (150,000 miles), equivalent to over six journeys around the Earth. 

Fortunately, a savvy Chinese airline has no intention of repeating this flight, although anything is possible.