India’s state airline – Air India – on Sunday in New Delhi operated what it claimed to be the world’s longest flight, staffed only by women from New Delhi to San Francisco to mark International Women’s Day.
Airline’ Spokesman, G-Prasada Rao, said four pilots and 10 cabin crew were on board the Boeing 777-LR that departed Delhi early Sunday.
“The non-stop flight will cover some 12,300 kilometres in around 16 hours. It will return on International Women’s Day on March 8.
“The entire flight operation – including check-in, ground handling and traffic control – is handled by women.
“We will soon file for the Guinness Record for the world’s longest all-women operated flight”, he said.
Rao said before the commencement of the operations, the airline had made it public, through newspaper advertisements, that all-women flight was a record and that it would operate 22 flights with all-women crews on March 8.
Pilot Ramya Kirti-Gupta described the flight as a symbol of women empowerment.
He said it would also encourage women to step out of their comfort zone and succeed in male-dominated arenas too.
Air India launched the flight from India to the U.S. west coast, among the longest scheduled routes in the world, in December.
Emirates launched a flight between Dubai and Auckland last week, reportedly the world’s longest non-stop flight by distance, which covers some 14,200 kilometres.
