This 17-hour flight is now the longest in the world

Qatar Airways is the new titleholder for the world’s longest regularly scheduled airline flight.

The airline on Sunday inaugurated service on the 9,032-mile route between its Doha hub and Auckland, New Zealand. Flight time on the route is 16 hours, 10 minutes, on the New Zealand-bound leg. The return, which typically faces more headwinds, is scheduled for a whopping 17 hours, 30 minutes, according to the carrier’s website.

Qatar Airways’ new service edges it past Middle East rival Emirates, whose 8,819-mile route from Dubai to Auckland clocks in at 16 hours, 5 minutes, in the direction of New Zealand and at 17 hours, 20 minutes on the return.

With that, Qatar Airways can now claim the world’s longest flight both by time and by distance, according to air travel intelligence company OAG. That latter distinction, however, comes with something of an asterisk.

USA TODAy