Qantas operates the longest commercial flight in its history

The flight from Buenos Aires to Darwin via the Antarctic coast took nearly 18 hours

The flight, operated due to Argentina’s closed borders, carried 107 Australian citizens and residents from South America.

At 12.44pm local time, flight QF14 departed from Buenos Aires and landed in Darwin 17 hours and 26 minutes later. The Qantas Boeing 787 Dreamliner flew 15,020km, eclipsing Qantas’ previous record of 14,498km between Perth and London for the company’s longest non-stop commercial trip.

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According to Qantas chief technical pilot Captain Alex Passerini, the journey took a lot of planning. He said: “The plane doesn’t need to be changed. It was built for these kinds of tasks, and it succeeds admirably. Even so, when you’re working at these altitudes, careful adjustment is necessary. Even tiny changes in the wind can have a big impact on the route we follow. As a result of our flying system’s calculations, this is the case.”

Qantas has flown longer test flights before, but its one-off journey to Buenos Aires is the airline’s longest paid passenger flight in its 100-year history.

Singapore Airlines’ flight from Singapore to New York is the world’s longest scheduled commercial trip. In March 2020, the 18-hour trip was put on hold, but it was reinstated in December that year.

For more information, visit www.qantas.com