We Flew the World’s Shortest and Longest Commercial Flights: Here’s What It Was Like

Kara and I are major flight enthusiasts and this obsession has taken us around the globe as we’ve tried out some of the world’s craziest flights (like flying in an apartment in the sky).

Recently, we had the opportunity to try out two unique flights that could not be more different from one another: the world’s shortest commercial flight and the world’s longest commercial flight.

The world’s shortest commercial flight can be flown in less than a minute between 2 islands in the north of Scotland while the world’s longest commercial flight is 19 hours long and is flown between Singapore and New York City.

So what is it like to fly on the world’s shortest and longest flights? Join us as we travel to opposite sides of the globe to experience both!

Flight #1 Westray to Papa Westray:

The Orkney Islands are a beautiful chain of islands just north of mainland Scotland with a total population of around 22,000 people. We started our journey on the island of Westray which has a total population of 600. Westray has a stunning rugged coastline, green countryside, and baby sheep and puffins galore! Even if you’re not as into flying as we are, we think it’s definitely worth a visit!

Our flight was a total of 1.7 miles long between the islands of Westray and Papa Westray. You can move between the islands via ferry, but these ferries can take a long time so the government subsidizes flights to allow locals to travel more efficiently. This means that not only was this the shortest flight we’ve ever taken, but also the cheapest at around $22.

Here’s the timeline of the world’s shortest flight:

8:20

Our taxi driver, Stuart, came to pick us up from our accommodation to drive us to the Westray airport.

8:30

We arrived at what probably is the world’s smallest airport. When we got there, Stuart put on a reflective jacket to start his second job as the air traffic controller. A sign outside the door notified us that all baggage must be checked at least 10 minutes before departure.

8:45

Our plane arrived at the airport from its last stop in Kirkwall. The planes in the Orkney Islands operate kind of like buses. Every day the plane loops between Kirkwall, Westray, and Papa Westray. Passengers board the plane at their chosen stop and then just stay on the plane until they reach their destination.

8:52

We boarded the plane and took off! This plane was so small and filled with locals going about their day. We heard that the flight could take anywhere between 53 seconds to just over 2 minutes, depending on the winds, so we decided to time the flight.

8:54

From wheels up to wheels down, the flight took a total of 2 minutes and 21 seconds. The whole time, it was impossible to tell if the flight was taking off or landing… I guess it was doing both? After getting off the plane, we retrieved our bags from the “baggage carousel” which was really just a bin filled with the locals’ Amazon packages.

Our biggest takeaway was that while this flight was so crazy for us, it was so normal for the locals. Can you imagine just casually taking a flight as your main means of transport?!

The longest flight in the world is a 10,000-mile-long Singapore Airlines flight from Singapore to New York City. This flight takes just over 19 hours and is about 500 times longer than the world’s shortest flight. (Fun fact: the longest runway at the Changi Airport in Singapore is 2.4 miles long, which is almost 1 whole mile longer than the world’s shortest flight from Westray. Okay, maybe that fact is only fun if you’re an aviation nerd like us.)

One of the most unique things about this flight is that the plane does not have any economy seats at all – just business class and premium economy. For this flight, we flew in business class and we were probably more excited than anyone else on the flight. Many people probably hate long flights, but we relish the opportunity to veg out for 19 hours, watch movies, nap and eat food- completely guilt-free.

Here’s the timeline of the world’s longest flight:

Hour 0

Before the flight took off, we spent some time exploring our seats for the next 19 hours and wow, the seats are HUGE (maybe even bigger than Emirates First Class). Seriously, I could fit two of me in my seat. The seat features a couple of storage cubbies, a tray table hidden in the armrest and seat controls to lay the seat flat.

Hour 1

After takeoff, the flight attendants delivered us a glass of champagne. We got some work done so we could relax for the rest of the flight.

Hours 2 & 3

The flight attendants came around to start serving our three-course meals. We ordered the vegetarian menu and got a glass of red wine on the side.

Hour 4

We enjoyed a chocolate mousse for our dessert and then received our amenity kits which had toiletries like facial mist, lip balm and lotion.

Hours 5-7

After napping for a couple of hours, the flight attendants delivered a snack of the airline’s famous satay skewers and peanut sauce. We’ve had these before in the Singapore Airlines lounge and can testify that they are worth the hype. Kara says that if she could, she’d eat the peanut sauce for every meal.

Hours 8-9

This little snack was quickly followed by a second meal service which we enjoyed while binge-watching our favorite TV shows.

Hour 10

We used our amenity kits to get ready for bed and then adjusted our seats to the lie-flat position. Our only complaint about the seats? We were given too many pillows, which I guess isn’t the worst complaint to have.

Hours 11-19

We spent the rest of the flight sleeping and watching a whole lot of TV. The flight landed in New York City in the evening so we tried to avoid sleeping too much to make sure we weren’t too jetlagged.

Maybe we’re crazy, but this flight didn’t feel like 19 hours at all. With all that eating, sleeping, and watching TV, the world’s longest flight went by too fast. It was over before we were ready to leave!

Do you have any interest in flying the world’s shortest or longest flight? Head over to our video below to let us know and to watch our full flying experience.

Hi! We’re Kara and Nate. High school sweethearts from Nashville, TN whose shared love of travel has led us on the adventure of a lifetime. In 2016 we quit our jobs to spend one year traveling around the world. Seven years later, we still haven’t stopped! We quickly fell in love with life on the road and capturing our travels on video. We’ve visited over 100 countries, and have been fortunate enough to build an awesome community of subscribers on our YouTube channel and newsletter Daily Drop.

We’re so grateful to do what we love everyday and we hope our story and our content might inspire you to travel somewhere new!