Buckle Up for This 8-Minute Plane Ride

From Switzerland to Friedrichshafen, Germany—the world's shortest international commercial flight
By Jenn Gidman,  Newser Staff
Posted Nov 3, 2016 3:48 PM CDT
Updated Nov 6, 2016 10:04 AM CST
This Is the Shortest International Flight in the World
An airplane from the regional airline People's Viennaline takes off from the airport on Lake Constance in Friedrichshafen, Germany, on Wednesday.   (Felix Kaestle/dpa via AP)

The world's longest nonstop commercial flight is nearly 15 hours; the shortest, about eight minutes. CNN reports on the latter out of Europe, where the puddle jumper (water droplet jumper?) between Switzerland's St. Gallen-Altenrhein Airport and Germany's Friedrichshafen Airport is a commuter fantasy come to life as of Wednesday. The 13-mile trip over Lake Constance, serviced by the People's Viennaline airlines, takes less time than it does to pound a Starbucks iced latte as the first part of a longer route to Cologne, Germany. A one-way ticket costs about $45, per Traveller. "This stopover will benefit both tourists and commuters working on both sides of the lake and, of course, it is also likely to become a must in every aviation enthusiast's logbook," the airline's CEO says. (CNN lists other remarkably short flights around the world.)

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