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The common stance regarding the shortest commercial flight is said to be between DC and Philadelphia, which is not true. Here's a fun fact... the shortest commercial flight is actually from Westray to Papa Westray by Loganair, in Scotland’s Orkney Islands.
The flight duration is a mind-boggling 47 seconds! Well, depending on the speed and direction of the wind.
The distance between the two islands is 3.2km. The Scottish airline owned the title for having the shortest commercial flight since its inter-island service came into operation in that region in 1967.
Currently, the cost of a flight between Westray and Papa Westray amounts to £21 (R359.82).
It’s not too peculiar that the flight between DC and Philadelphia is generally labelled as ‘short’. This seems to be the case, because the real short flights are along unfamiliar routes.
According to Telegraph Travel, the latest six shortest flights recorded in the world are:
2 minutes: Westray to Papa Westray, Scotland. 3.2km, operated by Loganair
10 minutes: Cayman Brac to Little Cayman, Cayman Islands. 24.7km, operated by Cayman Airways
12 minutes: Toronto to Niagara, Canada. 50km, operated by Greater Toronto Airways
15 minutes: Caye Chapel to Caye Caulker, Belize. 7.8, operated by Maya Island Air
15 minutes: Karpathos to Kasos, Greece. 28km, operated by Olympic Air
15 minutes: St Kitts to Nevis, Saint Kitts and Nevis. 31km, operated by LIAT
What's mind-boggling is that these flights combined, accumulates to 144.7km. That is a 14 188.3km difference between the single longest flight in the world, which is from Aukland to Dubai at a 14,203km distance. This flight lasts for 17hr 15min on a Boeing 777-200LR.
The flight from Joahnnesburg to Atlanta is also ranked amongst the top ten longest non-stop flights in the world on Delta Airlines at a 13,582km distance, lasting almost 17 hours!
Though the official flight time from Westray to Papa Westray is two minutes, the journey can last only 47 seconds when weather conditions play along.
Because this flight is so short, you don’t really have to travel to Westray to experience it. Simply view this video to get a feel thereof:
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