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World's longest passenger flight jets off on 29 hour journey

A boy looks up at a plane through a windowImage source, Getty Images
Image caption,

Can you believe how long this plane is in the sky for?

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If you've ever flown to a different country before, how long did it take to get there?

Some plane journeys to Europe can take just a few hours, but they can be much longer if you're flying long haul to somewhere very far away.

Well, there's now been a new record set for the longest passenger flight that has a single stop and uses the same plane.

It's a whopping 29 hour journey between Shanghai in China, to Buenos Aires in Argentina.

A person takes a photo of a plane flying overhead Image source, Getty Images
Image caption,

The Boeing 777-300ER is the aircraft chosen for this very special journey

The new route is being flown twice weekly by air company China Eastern Airlines.

It stops for just two hours at an airport in Auckland, New Zealand, to refuel and swap round the staff that are part of the flight crew.

Flying for a distance of nearly 20,000km, the route will ship important supplies between China, New Zealand and South America, as well as taking passengers.

It joins a host of other long plane journeys that compete for the world's longest flight in different categories.

A plane flying past a bridge with the words China Eastern written on itImage source, Getty Images
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China Eastern say that the new route "fills the gap in direct flights between Shanghai and major South American cities"

The title of the longest non-stop flight is currently held by Singapore Airlines, who run an epic 19 hour journey from Singapore to New York.

But that looks likely to be overtaken closer to home, with Qantas launching the world's first direct flight between Sydney and London in 2027, expected to take 22 hours non-stop.

But could these kinds of journeys be much quicker?

Research from the Civil Aviation Authority suggests that a trip from the UK to Australia could take just two hours by using 'suborbital' outer space flights!

What's the longest journey you've ever been on? Let us know in the comments...