Emirates’ Dubai to Panama City route to be world’s longest flight

The Middle East’s biggest airline, United Arab Emirates, will operate the world’s longest commercial flight next year.

Thursday, the airline announced plans for a daily round-trip flight connecting its Dubai hub to Panama City. The airline’s first flight to a Central American destination will last 17 hours and 35 minutes heading west.

Until Feb. 1, when the flight is scheduled to start, Australia’s Qantas Airways Limited will continue to operate the world’s longest flight from Dallas to Sydney, lasting just under the 17-hour mark. Singapore Airlines held the world record until 2013, when it scrapped a service to Newark, N.J., lasting longer than 18 hours.

Read more from The Associated Press.