Middle-Eastern airline announces new 18½-hour flight that could be world's longest direct flight

16:43 - 28 January 2016

Qatar Airways has announced a new route between Doha, Qatar and Auckland, New Zealand which would become the world's longest direct flight.

If indications are anything to go by, then 2016 could be the year when the record for the world's longest direct flight gets broken.

The announcement was made by Qatar CEO

According to

The current holder for the longest nonstop flight is Australias

Several other airlines are however in a bid to beat this record as last year, Emirates Airline announced a forthcoming route from Dubai to Panama City, Panama and would last 17 hours and 35 minutes.

Also, Singapore Airlines, which held the record for the longest nonstop flight until 2013, announced a possible resumption of its nearly 19-hour flights between New York and Singapore.