A Boeing 777 Worldliner took off from Hong Kong on Wednesday in a bid to set the record for the longest flight by a commercial jet, 23 hours to London flying east over North America, a company staffer said.
The demonstration model of the American company’s latest plane left the tarmac of Hong Kong International airport at 10.30pm local time bound for Heathrow airport on a 20 100km voyage.
The record bid comes with the company battling with European rival Airbus for control of the lucrative long-range aeroplane market.
The plane will fly on an eastern route over the United States, instead of the regular western route over Russia.
On board the twin-engined airliner were just 35 people, including airline executives, journalists and business clients, as well as crew members.
Boeing rolled out its first 777-200LR Worldliner in February. It claims the plane is the longest-range commercial aircraft in the world.
It chose Hong Kong to launch its record bid as huge demand for new planes is expected from China and the Asian region in the future.
”Asia is an extremely important [market] in the world for our 777s … The airline community is very interested in these airplanes,” said Randy Tinseth, the company’s director of product and services marketing. — Sapa-AFP