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What Would You Do With 17 And A Half Hours In The Air? Here's A Chance To Find Out

You can watch more than six seasons of Friends in the amount of time it takes to complete what will be the longest westerly nonstop commercial flight.

How long is it? A mere 17 hours and 35 minutes.

The Boeing 777, operated by Emirates, will hold 266 passengers, on its trip from Dubai to Panama City beginning next February, according to a press release.

"Panama City will be our first destination gateway in Central America, providing a convenient option for our passengers travelling from or through our global hub in Dubai and onward to destinations throughout Central America, the Caribbean and the northern part of South America," said His Highness Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, Chairman and Chief Executive of Emirates Airline & Group.

On the Emirates website, seats for opening day go for more than $2,000 USD.

The longest nonstop flights previously were about 17 hours, traveling from Dallas, Texas to Sydney, Australia.

Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.