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Auckland welcomes passengers on inaugural 'worlds longest direct flight' from China to Argentina
China Eastern's new route links Shanghai and Buenos Aires via Auckland, offering a two-hour stopover and eased transit visas for Chinese travelers.
- On December 4, China Eastern Airlines launched a twice-weekly Shanghai–Buenos Aires service from Shanghai Pudong, transiting Auckland Airport with a two-hour stop and taking just shy of 26 hours outbound.
- Starting this week the route will run every Tuesday and Thursday, and Chinese transiting passengers can use an NZeTA instead of a separate transit visa, officials said.
- At Auckland Airport a welcome ceremony included Minister of Tourism and Hospitality Louise Upston, Minister of Immigration and Education Erica Stanford, and China Eastern Airlines chief executive Gao Fei, while passengers like Yi Zhu enjoyed the stopover.
- Officials expect the service to deliver economic benefits as air trade between New Zealand and South America totalled $129 million in the year to October 2025, up 11 percent.
- The service, billed as the `world's longest direct flight`, covers about 20,000 kilometres and the return journey takes about 29 hours.
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14 Articles
14 Articles
The World’s Longest Flight Just Took Off, and My Spine Hurts Thinking About It
Oh joy. Oh bliss. Another interminably long flight. How wonderful. Thank you, China, for offering this wonderful breakthrough. It will allow so many of us to slowly lose our minds like William Shatner in that one episode of The Twilight Zone on a flight that is so long it feels like you should be landing on another planet by the time it’s done. China Eastern Airlines is about to test the limits of both aviation and human butt endurance with a ne…
·New York, United States
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In 29 hours flight time from Buenos Aires to Beijing: This longest direct flight in the world now offers a Chinese airline. However, direct flight does not mean that there is no stopover. From Benjamin Eyssel.
·Hamburg, Germany
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Coverage Details
Total News Sources14
Leaning Left3Leaning Right1Center2Last UpdatedBias Distribution50% Left
Bias Distribution
- 50% of the sources lean Left
50% Left
L 50%
C 33%
R 17%
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