A Boeing Co 777 wide-body aircraft set an endurance record for a non-stop commercial flight on Thursday, travelling more than 22 hours eastwards from Hong Kong to London.
The aircraft, with 35 passengers and crew aboard, flew more than half way around the world, covering 11,664 nautical miles, or 21,601 kilometres, Boeing said.
The 777-200LR (longer range) Worldliner plane touched down at London's Heathrow airport in Boeing's blue and white livery, with the word "experimental" over the forward door.
Officials from Guinness World Records were on hand at London's Heathrow Airport to verify the record as the world's longest commercial flight.
The plane flew from Hong Kong to London, going the long way round over North America in a flight, which lasted 22 hours and 42 minutes.
Captain Suzanna Darcy-Hennemann, one of the pilots, said the plane had two hours of fuel left when it landed.
Asked why they did not keep going, she said: "You have to declare your route before you set off."
She told reporters air traffic controllers, unaware the flight was trying to break a record, had offered the pilots vectors, or short cuts, to speed up the journey.
"We kept being offered vectors and, strange for a pilot, we kept saying no we want to stay on our route," she said.
The first Boeing 777-200LR will be delivered to Pakistan International Airlines in early 2006. The plane can carry about 300 passengers.
Air Canada on Wednesday concluded an agreement to buy 32 of wide-body jets including 18 777s from Boeing in a transaction worth about $6 billion.
"We see an addressable market for a plane of this size and capability of 340 planes," said Randy Tinseth, director of product marketing for Boeing Commercial Airplanes.
He said the plane's long-range capabilities, by using two rather than four fuel-efficient engines, would save airlines about 2 million gallons of fuel per year.
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