Airlines Lufthansa performs its longest non-stop flight ever

Lufthansa flight 2574 took off from Hamburg Airport Helmut Schmidt yesterday in the evening and the airbus A350-900, registered D-AIXP, is currently on its way from the German city to Mount Pleasant on the Falklands.

Between Hamburg and the Falkland Island, the aircraft is traveling 13,700 kilometres, a record for the airline. 16 crew member and 92 passengers are onboard the aircraft. The flight is being performed on behlaft of the Alfred Wegener Institute.

Onboard are scientists and ship crew traveling for upcoming expeditions with the research vessel Polarstern. After being two weeks quarantined, the crew finally started its long journey to the other end of the world.

After landing on the Falkland Islands, which is expected to happen at 8:45 Local Time (12:45 CET), the crew and expedition members will continue their journey to the vessel Polarstern. But first, all passengers will undergo a second quarantine to ensure the highest safety possible.

Regarding the circumstances on board, Lufthansa stated: "To make the flight comfortable, passengers travel in Business Class and in the Sleeper's Rows. In the Sleeper’s Row, a row of seats in Economy Class is equipped with a mattress, blanket and pillows. The A350-900 also features lighting technology to support the sleep/night rhythm. For this flight, for example, the cabin lighting was adapted in such a way that the four-hour time difference will only cause minimal jet lag."

This flight is a special one for Lufthansa, but also for Hamburg Airport. It is the longest ever non-stop flight to take off from the airport in Northern Germany.

After successfully landing the aircraft following the 15-hour flight, the crew will then depart two days later on February 3, 2021 under flight number LH2575 with destination Munich. On board of the return flight will be crews of the Polarstern vessels as well.