The longest—and shortest—international nonstop commercial flights in the world

How is flight distance measured?

This list of the longest and shortest commercial flights is ranked by great-circle distance (GCD) in miles and kilometers. But what exactly is GCD?

Spherical flight path

In other words, the shortest route for a flight to take is not a straight line drawn from point to point on a two-dimensional map. Still confused? Read on.

Flying in a three-dimensional world

When all is said and done, it comes down to understanding that the Earth is not flat, as we often perceive it on two-dimensional maps. Instead, our planet is three-dimensional and spherical or, to be precise, spheroid.

Tony Jannus (1889–1916)

Before taking off through this gallery, it's worth mentioning a guy called Tony Jannus. He was an American aviator whose pioneering exploits include flying the first airplane from which a parachute jump was made, in 1912.

World's first commercial flight

Jannus is best remembered, though, for piloting the world's first commercial flight, when he took off from St. Petersburg, Florida, on January 1, 1914, and landed about 30 minutes later in Tampa, Florida, covering a distance of 10.5 miles (17 km) in a Benoist XIV, a small biplane flying boat.

10. Fort Lauderdale-North Bimini

The 10th shortest international flight is the 59 miles (95 km) between Fort Lauderdale in Miami and North Bimini Airport in the Bahamas.

8. Damman-Bahrain

The eight shortest international flight is the 55 miles (87 km) between Damman in Saudi Arabia and Bahrain on the Persian Gulf.

6. Kasane-Victoria Falls

The sixth shortest international flight is the 48 miles (77 km) between Kasane in Botswana and Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe.

4. Sint Maarten-Sint Eustatius

The fourth shortest international flight is the 38 miles (61 km) between Sint Maarten and Sint Eustatius in the northern Leeward Islands of the Caribbean.

2. Sint Maarten-Saint Barthélemy

The second shortest international flight is the 19 miles (31 km) between Sint Maarten and Saint Barthélemy in the Caribbean.

The world's longest international nonstop commercial flights

In it for the long haul? Here are the top 10 longest international nonstop commercial flights, again listed in descending order of distance covered.

9. Shenzhen-Mexico City

The ninth longest international nonstop flight is the 8,776 miles (14,124 km) between Shenzhen in China and Mexico City, Mexico.

7. Auckland-New York (JFK)

The seventh longest international nonstop flight is the 8,829 (14,209 km) between Auckland and John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York.

5. Dallas-Melbourne

The fifth longest international nonstop flight is the 8,989 miles (14,468 km) between Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas, and Melbourne, Australia.

3. Auckland-Qatar

The third longest international nonstop flight is the 9,026 miles (14,526 km) between Auckland and Doha, Qatar.