wunderfeedENDE

Quick & curious · Technology

The world's shortest scheduled flight takes about a minute.

The flight between two of Scotland's Orkney islands is just 2.7 kilometres long. The timetable allows one and a half minutes.

A small twin-engine aircraft on a gravel airstrip under a grey sky
Photo: Mark Longair · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Original

2.7kmroute Westray – Papa Westray

The story behind it

The world's shortest scheduled flight takes about a minute.

Since December 1967 the airline Loganair has linked the Orkney islands of Westray and Papa Westray. The timetable says one and a half minutes; in fact the small Islander aircraft is usually in the air for only about a minute.

Fits with this

  • Nº 099 · History

    The shortest war lasted less than an hour.

    In 1896 British ships shelled the Sultan's palace in Zanzibar. After 38 to 45 minutes the war was over.

    Photo: Richard Mohun · Public domain

  • Nº 087 · Physics · 50 sec

    Through the Earth in about 40 minutes – wherever you go

    A tunnel straight through the planet, no friction, only gravity: in an evenly dense Earth the trip always takes the same time.

    Photo: NASA, Crew von Apollo 17 · Public domain