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(CNN) – The aviation industry has been greatly affected by the pandemic of coronavirus, and travelers around the world deal with canceled flights and travel bans as they rush to get home.
But an unexpected side effect in the sector was the creation of a new aviation world record.
On March 14, French airline Air Tahiti Nui made the longest scheduled passenger flight by distance, covering 15,715 kilometers around the world from Papeete, in Tahiti, French Polynesia, to Paris’ Charles de Gaulle Airport.
This milestone was a direct consequence of US travel restrictions. following the coronavirus.
This route generally involves a scheduled layover at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX). But when a plane stops in the U.S., all passengers must get off the plane and go through U.S. Customs and Border Protection. before they are allowed to proceed with the next leg of their journey.
The current restrictions made this part of the trip unsustainable, so instead, flight TN064 continued in a straight line, leaving at 3 am local time from Papeete airport and arriving in Paris at 6:30 am. local on March 15.
Exceptional situation
“This flight was operated exceptionally and within the limitations imposed by the US authorities in the face of the covid-19 epidemic,” an Air Tahiti Nui spokesperson told CNN Travel in a statement.
The flight, which was in the air for just under 16 hours, became the longest commercial flight in the world in terms of distance traveled.
The flight broke the previous record for Singapore Airlines, which offers scheduled passenger service between Singapore and Newark covering a distance of 15,343 kilometers.
Australian airline Qantas set a different record for the longest flight in late 2019. The Sunrise Project test flight logged approximately 17,799 kilometers and 19 hours and 19 minutes nonstop between London and Sydney. But since there were no passengers to pay fares on board, it does not count as a properly scheduled service.
The TN064 is also the longest scheduled domestic flight in the world, having traveled between French Polynesia and mainland France.
Air Tahiti Nui informed CNN Travel that the plane flew with a “reinforced crew” of four pilots and was operated by a “next-generation plane,” a Boeing 787-9, twin-engine Dreamliner.
The plane was reportedly not nearly full, which meant that he could continue the entire stretch without refueling.
A unique record
Air Tahiti Nui says it was an “exceptional flight, operated in a special context,” adding that it demonstrates the airline’s commitment to maintaining transit links between France and overseas territory.
“But it is not intended to be maintained,” added the spokesman.
That’s right, it was a single case.
Since the weekend, the airline has been replacing its usual stop in Los Angeles with stops in Vancouver, Canada or Pointe a Pitre, in Grande-Terre, Guadeloupe, although it has now discarded the Canadian option since the North American country introduced a restriction on trip on March 16.
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