The Dubai-based airline has announced it will begin operating the world’s longest regularly scheduled nonstop flight. Daily service between Dubai and Panama City will begin Feb. 1, 2016.

According to the airline, the flight will take an incredible 17 hours and 35 minutes in the westbound direction.

It will traverse a distance of approximately 13,800 kilometers, according to webflyer.com.

The flight will beat the current longest nonstop flight — Qantas Airways service between Sydney and Dallas takes just less than 17 hours — by 17 kilometers, according to Bloomberg, which uses the Great Circle Mapper website to calculate a distance of 13,821 kilometers.

Emirates will operate the flight with a Boeing 777-200LR aircraft and carry 256 passengers.

The aircraft can carry up to 15 tons of cargo and in addition to passengers will transport key imports to Panama, including pharmaceuticals, machine products and electronics.

“New doors to the country will open with a direct connection to the Middle East — a strong and thriving region with great synergies to both Panama and Latin America,” said Panama vice president, as part of the Emirates statement.

“Panama City will be our first destination gateway in Central America, providing a convenient option for our passengers traveling from or through our global hub in Dubai and onward to destinations throughout Central America, the Caribbean and the northern part of South America,” according to the airline statement.

Emirates flight EK251 will depart Dubai at 8:05 a.m. and arrive in Panama City at 4:40 p.m. daily.

The return flight, EK252, will leave Panama City at 10:10 p.m., arriving in Dubai at 11:55 p.m. the next day.

总部位于迪拜的阿航宣布将开通全球最长不经停的定期航线。迪拜至巴拿马城的每日航班将于2016年2月1日开通。

该航空公司称，航班会向西飞行长达17小时35分钟。webflyer.com称，航线里程大约13800千米。

目前最长的直飞航班是澳洲航空执飞的悉尼 — 达拉斯航线，航行时间近17小时。彭博社利用Great Circle Mapper网站计算出阿航的这条航线长达13821千米，比澳洲航空的航线多出17千米，将成为全球最长的直飞航线。

阿航将采用波音777-200LR飞机执飞，可承载256名乘客。

该飞机可承载15吨货物，除载客外，飞机还将向巴拿马运输主要的进口货物，包括医药、机械和电子产品。

巴拿马副总统表示：“中东地区实力强大，发展势头良好，中东地区与巴拿马、与拉美都存在很大的协同效应。随着中东地区与巴拿马开通直航，巴拿马将迎来新的机遇。”这段话也是阿航声明的一部分。

阿航发表声明称：“巴拿马城将是我们进军中美洲的第一站，对于从阿航全球总部迪拜出发、或者经停迪拜，前往中美洲、加勒比地区，以及南美洲北部地区的乘客来说，巴拿马城都是便利的选择。”

阿航EK251航班每天将于8:05从迪拜出发，16:40抵达巴拿马城。返程航班EK252将于22:10飞离巴拿马城，于次日23:55抵达迪拜。

   Words to Learn 相关词汇

   【横越】héngyuè traverse travel or pass across, over, or through

    【协同效应】xiétóng xiàoyìng synergy cooperative interaction among groups that creates an enhanced combined effect