China Eastern Airlines flight MU745 departed Shanghai Pudong International Airport for the first time on Thursday, heading to Buenos Aires, the capital of Argentina, via Auckland, New Zealand. This marks the official launch of the world’s longest one-way route, covering approximately 20,000 kilometers.
This inaugural flight took off at 2:19 a.m., carrying 282 passengers, and was operated by a Boeing 777-300 large wide-body aircraft. According to the schedule, the route will offer two round-trip flights per week, with the total journey taking about 25 hours.
The New Route Sets Multiple Records
In addition to setting a new world record for flight distance, this new route also fills the gap in direct flights between Shanghai and the key cities of South America. It establishes a “southbound corridor” flight path across the Pacific Ocean, reshaping travel between three continents, and successfully shortens the journey from China to South America by more than 4 hours.
A China Eastern Airlines staff member introduced that, compared to the traditional “northbound corridor” which requires transfers in Europe, the Middle East, or North America, choosing the “southbound corridor” via New Zealand to Argentina not only makes the journey shorter and faster, but also benefits from more convenient transit visa policies and smaller time differences.
Expected to Offer Better Logistics Options
Additionally, the new route has successfully obtained the fifth freedom of the air (the right to carry passengers and cargo between two foreign countries as part of services connecting the airline's own country), allowing the flight to pick up and drop off passengers and cargo during its stopover in Auckland. This offers improved logistics choices for China, New Zealand, and Argentina.
Through this new route, high value-added agricultural products such as beef and wine from New Zealand and Argentina are expected to enter the Chinese market more quickly, while China’s daily goods, electronics, and precision instruments can be shipped directly to South America.