India’s state airline Air India celebrates International Women’s Day in a unique way this year. The airline is operating what it claims to be the world’s longest flight staffed only by women from New Delhi to San Francisco.
The non-stop flight departed Delhi early Sunday and will cover some 12,300 kilometres in around 16 hours. It will return on International Women’s Day on March 8.
A team of four pilots and 10 cabin crew were on board the Boeing 777-LR, airline spokesman G Prasada Rao said.
The entire flight operation – including check-in, ground handling and traffic control – was handled by women.
The airline plans to soon file for the Guinness Record for the world’s longest all-women operated flight, Rao said.
“The flight is a symbol of women empowerment and it will encourage women to step out of their comfort zone and succeed in male-dominated arenas too,” pilot Ramya Kirti Gupta told broadcaster NDTV before take-off.
The airline ran newspaper ads Sunday claiming the all-women flight was a record and that it would operate 22 flights with all-women crews on March 8.
Air India launched the flight from India to the US west coast, among the longest scheduled routes in the world, in December.
