Air India claims record by completing first ever round-the-world flight of plane crewed entirely by women

Air India has made history by completing its first ever around-the-world flight run entirely by an all-woman crew.

The plane travelled from Delhi to San Francisco and everyone involved was female - from the captain to the ground crew and check-in staff.

The airline has applied for a Guinness World Record and now plans to operate similar flights as a way of celebrating International Women's Day on March 08

The Boeing 777-200LR plane covered a distance of about 9,500 miles in 15-and-a-half hours and was captained by Kshamata Bajpayee.

Captain Kshamta Bajpayee, pictured left, with one of her co-pilots in the cockpit

She said: 'The flight is a symbol of women empowerment and it will encourage women to step out of their comfort zone and succeed in male-dominated arenas too.

'The entire message is actually to encourage young girls who have dreams of getting into the skies and they feel it's too technical or this is something only men do.

Crew members from the 15-and-a-half hour flight are pictured celebrating the journey. Airline bosses have applied for a Guinness World Record after the round-the-world flight