The crown for the world’s longest flight could soon change hands

On Wednesday, Australian airline Qantas launched a new route between New York and Sydney with a stop in Auckland, New Zealand.

It marks the first time the airline has flown to JFK via Auckland instead of through Los Angeles, Australian Aviation reports. And the move now means Qantas provides three of the world’s longest flights:

• Perth-London: 17 hours and 20 minutes.
• Dallas-Melbourne: 17 hours and 35 minutes.
• Auckland-New York: 16 hours and 15 minutes.

But the crown for the longest plane trip goes to Singapore Airlines: 18 hours and 50 minutes, between Singapore-New York. Though if Qantas has anything to say about it, that crown could soon change hands.

The Australian airline is currently focusing on providing nonstop flights between Sydney-New York and Sydney-London. Time in the air would clock in around 20 hours – or enough time to watch all eight Harry Potter movies.

✈️ One interesting thing: For eight years, Qantas has been working with sleep scientists to study passenger moods, sleep patterns, and food intake in an attempt to limit the impact of jet lag on super-long flights. They discovered that delaying meal service and keeping passengers awake longer with cabin lights helps to combat its symptoms.