Emirates Postpones Launch Of World's Longest Flight between Dubai and Panama City Wednesday March 02,2016

 

Emirates Airline, which was scheduled to launch what it called the world's longest non-stop flight this month between Dubai and Panama City, said Wednesday March 02,2016 it was postponing those plans for around a year.

The launch, which had been slated for March 31, 2016 will now occur in late 2016 or early 2017 due to "operational factors," the Dubai airline said in a statement released in Panama.

Emirates announced in August that it would launch the world's longest flight, at 17 hours and 35 minutes between the two trading hubs, making Panama the airline's first destination in Central America.

The company had said it would offer a daily flight to Panama's capital aboard a Boeing 777-200LR aircraft, which can also carry up to 15 tonnes of cargo.

However, the company said that upon extensive review, it would now postpone the flight after "considering all operational factors, including fleet utilization and commercial demand."

Among the world's other longest flights are one connecting Dallas to Sydney (almost 17 hours), Johannesburg to Atlanta (16 hours, 40 minutes), and Dubai to Los Angeles (16 hours 35 minutes).