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With longest-flight rankings considering both direct routes and airlines that make fifth-freedom refueling and passenger pickup stops, various airlines have held the title of running “the longest flight in the world” over the years.

The 19-hour Singapore Airlines flight between New York and Singapore is currently the longest direct flight in the world, while the 22-hour flight from JFK to Sydney is set to overtake it when Australian flag carrier Qantas Airways launches this new route in 2027.

New Caledonian flag carrier Aircalin previously ran the longest one-stop flight to Paris Charles De Gaulle from its capital of Nouméa (the stopover is in Bangkok) at 25 hours and 40 minutes.

But now that it has launched a new 29-hour route between Shanghai and Buenos Airlines, Chinese carrier China Eastern Airlines is the carrier running the longest flight in the category of those with a single intermediate stopover.

From Shanghai to Buenos Aires in 29 hours: China Eastern Airlines starts new route

Flight MU745 left from Shanghai Pudong International Airport (PVG) on Thursday, Dec. 4, and crossed more than 10,627 nautical miles or 19,681 kilometers to arrive at Ezeiza International Airport (EZE) in Buenos Aires 29 hours later with a two-hour stopover in Auckland International Airport (AKL).

The flight will run twice a week year-round on the 316-seat Boeing 777-300ER and depart at 2 a.m. Shanghai time. In data first reported by aviation outlet Simple Flying, 96,000 travelers flew between China and Buenos Aires on indirect flights between September 2024 and 2025, with demand for service between the two countries on the rise from members of the Chinese diaspora in South America.

The new route’s inauguration included launch celebrations at both its departure and arrival destinations, as well as in Auckland International. Local politicians touted its potential to bring in tourists, who will either fly directly to New Zealand or rejoin it after spending a few days in the country, Radio New Zealand Chinese reported.

The flight was chosen to go through the southern corridor to both connect the New Zealand market and cut the flight time from the transfer routes between Shanghai and Buenos Aires currently going through Europe, North America, or the Middle East.

“This new route, spanning 20,000 kilometers, fills the gap in direct flights between Shanghai and major South American cities,” China Eastern said in a statement. “It opens a ‘southbound corridor’ connecting opposite ends of the Pacific and reshapes air travel between three continents.”

China Eastern Airlines launched out of Shanghai in 1988.

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Long flight “a tourism and trade gateway,” airport officials gush

“We are very firmly focused on growing tourism beyond 2019 levels and China Eastern’s Southern Link marks a new milestone for New Zealand as a tourism and trade gateway,” New Zealand Minister of Tourism and Hospitality Louise Upston said at the welcome ceremony.

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As China Eastern Airlines takes the coming months to judge passenger demand and uptake of the new route, the airline confirmed it will also use it to transport cargo including electronics, medical instruments, and various agricultural products between China, New Zealand, and Argentina.