The World's Briefest Civil Flight: 2-Minute Landing, 10kg Fuel Consumption

The World's Shortest Civil Flight: Landing Within 2 Minutes Of Take-off And Consuming Only 10 Kilograms Of Fuel

How long was the shortest flight you've ever taken? 1 hour? Or half an hour?

In today's high-speed rail development in China, short-distance flights have almost no room for survival. The same is true in most of the world's areas where railways are well developed. But if there is a gap between the two places, such as mountains or the sea, that's a different story.

This is the case with the shortest flight in the world that this article will talk about.

The shortest scheduled flight in the world is between the island of Wisley and Papa, Scotland, operated by a small aircraft with only 8 seats. The flight distance is only 2.8 km, which is shorter than the main runway of Edinburgh Airport, the capital of Scotland.

The entire voyage usually takes less than two minutes, and early flight records show that the fastest took only 69 seconds, a number recorded in the Guinness Book of Records, and since then, it has been officially certified as the world's shortest route.

Later, the record was improved by 11 seconds to 58 seconds. You only need to take a short video of 1 minute to record the whole process of the voyage.

The pilot who flew the route 24,1 times for 2 years claimed that he had flown for 52 seconds, but there was no official recorder present at the time, so it was invalid.

The entire flight only consumes 10 kilograms of jet fuel, and the Boeing 747 consumes 1.5 tons of fuel during the taxiing phase before takeoff.

The ticket is not cheap, and the round trip takes less than 4 minutes and costs £39, equivalent to 320 yuan. After purchasing your ticket, you will also get a certificate and a small bottle of whiskey. The Scottish Highlands are famous for their excellent whisky.

According to the airline, the main passengers on the route were islanders, teachers, students, doctors, police officers, and bankers. There are flights to and from every weekday, and on Saturdays and Sundays, there are only one-way flights.

Papa Island is the ninth largest island in the Orkney Islands in Scotland, covering an area of 918 hectares. The population is only 90 people, compared to 20 people 65 years ago. Although small, Papa Island has famous architecture, and a stone house on the island is archaeologically recognized as the oldest stone house in the whole of Northern Europe. Many university professors and students take flights to the island, which accounts for the majority of the flight's passengers.

The other island, Wesree, is larger, with a permanent population of less than 600 people. The island has a heritage center and a 15th-century church. There is also a ferry service between the two islands, with more than a dozen departures a day, covering a journey of 5 nautical miles and taking about half an hour. However, naturally, there is no 2-minute flight more convenient.

The opening of flights has also made emergency medical services possible on both islands, and many patients have received timely treatment by plane.

The flight was operated by a company called Logan Air, founded in 1962 and headquartered in Scotland, with 30 aircraft, mainly small aircraft, mainly on very short routes, carrying more than 70,<> passengers a year.

The route is not actually profitable, it is a social service, enjoys annual government subsidies, and was won by Logan Airlines when it was first tendered in 1967. In 2013, Logan Air won the bid again.

The airline also plans to eliminate pilots on the route and introduce fully automated aircraft in 2021, as the flight duration is only 2 minutes, making it ideal for fully automated flights.

But perhaps before the introduction of fully automatic flights, the route was canceled. Because the local government is currently evaluating the plan to build a bridge, once passed, the world's shortest route may become history.