Longest flight vs shortest flight: Which is better value?

Posted:
News
Planesdocked-GettyImages_1800x1000

Would you pay to fly for just 47 seconds?

What is the shortest journey time for a plane serving commercial flights? The answer may surprise you.

The honour goes to Loganair's Westray and Papa Westray route, which typically spends a mere two minutes in the air, although that can drop down to as little as 47 seconds if the breeze is blowing the right way.

Compare that to some of the longest non-stop flights in the world, which includes Auckland to Dubai and Dallas to Sydney (both over 17 hours long) and it sounds like a breeze. Is it worth it though?

We looked at some of the longest and shortest flights in the world to see what the actual costs behind each flight per minute are. There weren't any significant spikes or drops in prices, but overall the longer the flight, the more bang for your buck. The long Delhi to San Francisco flight costs just under $1 per minute, while the short 47 second roller coaster through the air costs $13.68 per minute. See below for our comparison.

The flight costs for these journeys were taken direct from each airline's website and are either set prices or the lowest prices available at the time of publication for flights in 2017. Flight prices were converted into AUD using xe.com.


Shortest flights

Flight timeFlight distanceFlight cost (one-way)AUDCost per minute (AUD)Carrier
Westray to Papa Westray
2 minutes
3.2km
GBP17
$27.35
$13.68
Loganair
Cayman Brac to Little Cayman
10 minutes
24.7km
USD$39.39
$51.35
$5.14
Cayman Airways
Toronto to Niagara
12 minutes
50km
CAD85
$82.92
$6.91
Greater Toronto Airways
Caye Chapel to Caye Caulker
15 minutes
7.8km
Flights by special request only
-
-
Maya Island Air
Karpathos to Kasos
15 minutes
28km
EUR43.70
$63.23
$2.26
Sky Express

Longest flights

Flight timeFlight distanceFlight cost (one-way)AUDCost per minute (AUD)Carrier
Auckland to Dubai
17 hours 25 minutes
14,201km
NZD1,277
$1,213.54
$1.16
Emirates
San Francisco to Singapore
17 hours 15 minutes
13,592km
AUD1,892
$1,892
$1.83
United Airlines
Johannesburg to Atlanta
16 hours 50 minutes
13,581 km
ZAR33,163
$3,237.33
$3.21
Delta
Delhi to San Francisco
16 hours
15,128km
INR46,987
$918.82
$0.95
Air India
Sydney to Dallas
15 hours and 25 minutes
13,805km
AUD1,347
$1,347
$1.46

Australia's shortest and longest domestic flights

Australia's entrants for the shortest and longest flights are quite impressive, too. The shortest flight is the Harvey Bay to Maryborough route on the Sunshine Express which lasts 15 minutes.

Oddly enough, the longest direct domestic flight is Sydney to well, Sydney. This is a 12.5 hour flight and is a Qantas charter organised by Antarctica Flights. It leaves the domestic terminal of Sydney Airport, flies over the Antarctica Treaty Area for 4 hours and then returns. No passports are required and prices start from $1,199 per person.

Flights also depart from Melbourne, although they are 30 minutes shorter.

Coming a (not so) close third is the more popular (and more affordable) Gold Coast to Perth route. It takes 5 hours and 30 minutes.

Here's a video of the world's shortest flight from Westray to Papa Westray in Scotland's Orkney Islands:

Latest flights headlines

Go to site