Behold, the World's Longest Flight

Qatar Airways has launched the world's longest scheduled commercial airline route with the arrival of its flight from Doha to Auckland, New Zealand. The Gulf carrier said flight QR920 touched down in Auckland early Monday after covering a distance of 9,032 miles, reports the AP. That is the farthest distance between any two cities linked by direct flights. The outbound journey is scheduled to take 16 hours and 20 minutes on the Boeing 777-200LR. That's relatively short compared to the return trip of 17 hours and 30 minutes, which is slower because of headwinds. Qatar Airways' rival Emirates previously held the record for its route between Dubai and Auckland. That route is more than 185 miles shorter. (More Qatar Airways stories.)