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Five of the shortest flights in the world

Originally published on www.businesstraveller.asia 12/01/2011 - Filed under: News »

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Despite the rough economic climate that led many carriers to downsize their operations, five of the world’s shortest flights managed to keep their wings by serving niche routes.

LOGANAIR

Duration of flight: Two minutes

Route: Flies between Westray and Papa Westray, both of which belong to the Orkney Islands located to the north of Scotland.

Frequency: Six times a week

Background: This Scottish airline flies regionally and between the Orkney Islands. The inter-island services run as air taxis not only for the residents of the islands but also for the Scottish Air Ambulance Service and Royal Mail. Even for this brief journey, passengers have to check in 20 minutes before departure.

Website: www.loganair.co.uk

DAILY AIR

Duration of flight: 15 minutes

Route: Operates between Taitung and Green Island, a small island off the eastern coast of Taiwan

Frequency: Three times a day on a daily basis

Background: Established in 1992, the Taipei-based airline is focused solely on flying between the islands, although it accepts specially arranged charter flights.

Website: www.dailyair.com.tw

ZAN AIR

Duration of flight: 20 minutes

Route: Between Zanzibar and Dar Es Salaam in Tanzania

Frequency: Three times a day on a daily basis

Background: ZanAir is a domestic carrier based in Zanzibar with a small fleet of just seven aircraft. The airline provides charter flights too.

Website: www.zanair.com

JET AIRWAYS

Duration of flight: 35 minutes

Route: Mumbai to Pune, both of which are in the Indian state of Maharashtra

Frequency: One flight daily

Background: Mumbai-based Jet Airways is the only truly international airline to provide such a short domestic flight. At the height of the recession in 2008, Jet Airways had to layoff at least 1,900 staff and cut certain routes. This route weathered the storm perhaps because it significantly shortens travel time, which takes four hours by road.

Website: www.jetairways.com

GULF AIR

Duration of flight: 35 minutes

Route: Bahrain to Dammam

Frequency: Between two times a day on Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays, three times a day on Mondays, Tuesdays and Saturdays, and four times a day on Thursdays.

Background: Since Bahrain is an island country and Dammam is in Saudi Arabia, this flight is the shortest international flight, crossing the borders of the two countries. Gulf Air also provides bus services on this route, which takes two hours.

Website: www.gulfair.com

Alisha Haridasani

COMMENTS » 

MJRELJE - 12/01/2011 02:02

My flight from Shanghai to Nigbo was so short (20 mins) that the 'plane (MD-80) didn't put its wheels up, and flew over the Yangtze at a height of around 5,000 ft before landing.

myspirow - 12/01/2011 03:44

It's supposed to be LOGANAIR, not LOGONAIR...

In fact, this should be in #4 MASWINGS Duration of flight: 20 minutes Route: Miri (MYY) to Marudi (MRU), both in Sarawak state in Malaysia

Frequency: 16 weekly flights

Background: Maswings, the wholly subsidiary of Malaysia Airlines (MH) serve Rural Air Service in Malaysian Borneo state of Sarawak and Sabah with hubs in Miri (MYY), Kuching (KCH), and Kota Kinabalu (BKI). Marudi which bordered with Sabah is used to be the gateway to Mulu Caves until the opening of Mulu Airport (MZV), but still the town needs flights to support transportation of logistics and passengers within the region.

Website:http://www.maswings.com.my

And for #5: SUSI AIR Duration of flight: 30 minutes Route: Jakarta Halim Perdanakusuma (HLP) to Bandung (BDO)

Frequency: One flight daily

Background: Jakarta to Bandung isn't too lucrative air travel market. It used to be a joy to take flight option between the nation capital and the capital of West Java, but since the opening of direct highway between the two cities which cut short car traveling time to just 1,5 hours, this wins over time to taken flight formality significantly. Susi Air is the only carrier still serving this route.

Website: http://susiair.com

Actually, there are lots other 30mins flights: SUSI AIR Kupang - Rote 30mins MASWINGS Labuan (LBU) - Kota Kinabalu (BKI) 30mins MASWINGS Mulu (MZV) - Miri (MYY) also 30mins

7characters - 12/01/2011 03:56

Jet Airways is not the only international airline with a short domestic flight - Air Berlin (AB) also has scheduled flights from Palma de Mallorca (PMI) to Ibiza (IBZ) that runs sometimes as short as 14mins but is quoted with 20 mins.

bombayteddy - 12/01/2011 07:19

The Bombay - Poona (or should I say Mumbai - Pune) route was established in the 70's by Indian Airlines. A trusty Fokker Friendship propeller aircraft would take about 40 minutes to make the run; and though this was much shorter than road or rail, the airport was located WAY out of the city. Add to that the early check-in requirement plus the wait for baggage at the other end; and people generally preferred to take the train!

pomerol - 12/01/2011 10:29

Their was a scheduled flight of about 10 minutes, featured on a recent programme called 'The Ten Most Dangerous Airports In The World' from St. Marten to St. Bart's, which had the most scary approach I have seen.

myspirow - 13/01/2011 00:21

@pomerol: SXM to SBH is advertised as a 15-mins flight as printed on St. Barth Commuter website http://www.stbarthcommuter.com

acchaladka - 13/01/2011 14:01

This seems a strange topic - there are a lot of 30 minute routes out there everywhere, aren't there? Vancouver - Seattle or Vancouver - Victoria come to mind, as do Ottawa - Montreal or Montreal- Quebec City, etc.

Bart_2b - 13/01/2011 14:53

In Continental Europe there is another very short hop. The daily flights between Zurich (ZRH) en Basel (BSL). (LX2990 and LX2991) The distance is only 80 km. The flight is scheduled with 30 minutes. Which doesn't make it a very fast trip with 160 km/hour.

FRANCESCABARNES - 13/01/2011 14:56

12 MINS. TRINIDAD TO TOBAGO.

ConstantFlyer1 - 13/01/2011 16:40

Isle of Man - Blackpool 35 mins on manx2.com

marcm48 - 13/01/2011 20:12

Wideroe in Norway (part of the SAS group) has some very short hops in northern Norway. These links are often vital due to the difficult weather and terrain faced in those parts. Although not flown any more, I went on the Mehman to Berlevag flight which was only 10 minutes long.

COREOLAN - 13/01/2011 23:27

15 mins Guernsey (GCI) - Jersey (JER) and v. v. on Aurigny, Blue Islands and Flybe

skywards - 13/01/2011 23:36

I remember flying from Honolulu to Kona Hawaii that was about 20 minutes im sure?

nevereconomy - 13/01/2011 23:56

Dont forget Salisbury, Maryland to Philadelphia on USAirways Express. The Dash-8 takes as little as 25 minutes and can cost as much as $700 if you dont get a discounted fare.

Gridley - 14/01/2011 07:03

Guernsey to Jersey- 20 mins at least 6 flights a day

Gridley - 14/01/2011 07:05

Guernsey to Alderney - 15 mins. 6 flights daily Aurigny Airline

JWinter - 14/01/2011 10:31

Precision Air Dar es Salaam to Zanzibar, 20 minutes. Fly so low that if it rains too much they can't take off - and if they do, be prepared for a washing machine experience.

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