There's a new world's longest flight -- with a catch

Last week it was the return of the world's longest flight -- Singapore to New York JFK. This week comes another new aviation record: the world's longest flight in a single-aisle aircraft. Air Transat flight TS690 flew transatlantic from Montreal, Canada, to Athens, Greece, on Monday -- a journey of 7,600 kilometers. So far, so normal -- except the eight-hour, 32-minute flight was performed in a narrowbody Airbus A321neoLR. It was the longest commercial flight that a single-aisle aircraft has been used for. Although most people would flinch at the idea of a transatlantic flight in a single-aisle aircraft, economy class seats are 1.5 inches wider than in Air Transat's Airbus 310 -- though the seat pitch is a standard 31 inches. Club Class -- the premium economy section with recliner seats and a 38-inch pitch -- has an intimate 12 seats. While it may have broken the record, Montreal to Athens is not the furthest the A321LR has flown. In 2018 it completed a test flight from Mahé, Seychelles, to Toulouse, France -- an 11-hour, 5,466-mile flight. On that occasion, however, instead of passengers, the plane was equipped with heat-emitting dummies. Before this week, the record for a commercial flight was WOW Air's Reykjavik to LA flight in 2018 -- eight hours 40 minutes, and 6,927 kilometers. And it looks like the aircraft will be flying plenty more long-haul routes in the future -- especially with demand at a historic low due to Covid, and a slow recovery predicted.<br/>