# Shortest Commercially Available Flight? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 1, 2014, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shortest-commercially-available-flight/687442 "2014-05-01T15:11:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Onomatopoeia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/onomatopoeia/32/4145_2.png) [@Onomatopoeia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Onomatopoeia)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2016, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shortest-commercially-available-flight/687442/61 "2016-09-26T20:40:34Z")
> [@MichaelEmouse](#): > > What’s the point of these 2-15 minutes flights? Aside from areas in very rough terrain, isn’t it simpler and cheaper to make a road or go by boat? In the case of the flight between Moorea and Tahiti, they’re islands and it is not possible to make a road connecting the two. There is a ferry that goes both ways between Moorea and Tahiti that takes approximately 40 minutes so it is possible to go back and forth without flying. ---
**Author:** ![UncleRojelio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/unclerojelio/32/3160_2.png) [@UncleRojelio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleRojelio)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2016, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shortest-commercially-available-flight/687442/62 "2016-09-26T20:58:03Z")
> [@Telemark](#): > > That’s the shortest commercial flight I’ve been on. We just reached cruising altitude before starting our descent. But they did serve a snack. 🙂 I’ve done Blenheim to Wellington (or vice versa) several times. Very short hop plus you can lean into the aisle and see through the front windscreen. Although Samoa to Am Samoa is even better. You can tap the pilot on the shoulder and ask questions if you want. ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2016, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shortest-commercially-available-flight/687442/63 "2016-09-26T21:03:08Z")
Over water: Vancouver to Victoria Island - 25 minutes ---
**Author:** ![Marvin\_the\_Martian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/marvin_the_martian/32/2898_2.png) [@Marvin\_the\_Martian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marvin_the_Martian)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2016, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shortest-commercially-available-flight/687442/64 "2016-09-26T21:34:22Z")
Flew Chicago O’Hare to Milwaukee on a 737 a long time ago - it took much longer from the gate at O’Hare to the head of the runway at O’Hare than from the head of the runway at O’Hare to the gate in Milwaukee. I remember being in the air for what seemed like 5 minutes, but must have been a longer since the air distance is 67 miles. ---
**Author:** ![Baron\_Greenback](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baron_greenback/32/48_2.png) [@Baron\_Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baron_Greenback)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2016, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shortest-commercially-available-flight/687442/65 "2016-09-26T21:58:58Z")
> [@MichaelEmouse](#): > > What’s the point of these 2-15 minutes flights? Aside from areas in very rough terrain, isn’t it simpler and cheaper to make a road or go by boat? The very short Orkney flights are just stops on a circuit of the islands. No-one really commutes from Westray to Papa Westray (the really short one) by air, but if you want to travel between unadjacent islands, it’s likely the quickest way. ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2016, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shortest-commercially-available-flight/687442/66 "2016-09-26T22:12:44Z")
Last month I flew from Doha, Qatar, to Bahrain, which is listed at 45 minutes on the schedule. There is neither a road bridge nor a ferry connecting the two countries, but it is possible to drive from one to the other in a day, through Saudi Arabia. Fiji has two international airports, Nandi and Suva, and the flight connecting them is listed at 30 minutes. ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2016, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shortest-commercially-available-flight/687442/67 "2016-09-26T22:49:17Z")
I just found four scheduled flights a day, Belize to Caulker Cay, scheduled as 5 minute flights: 2:40 PM – 2:45 PM Belize City (BZE) – Caye Caulker (CUK) Moldavian Airlines 2160 · Cessna (Light) Propeller plane 0h 05m No Wi-Fi Kind of a bummer with no Wi-Fi – tough it out. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2016, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shortest-commercially-available-flight/687442/68 "2016-09-26T22:57:33Z")
There’s an Air France flight (or used to be) from Basel, Switzerland to Mulhouse, France. Scheduled duration: 1 minute. \*It’s the same airport. \* The plane doesn’t even leave the gate, it just turns into a French domestic flight that can therefore land at Paris Orly. Unrelated: I never noted the time, but the Allegheny schedule once showed service between Northeast Philadelphia and Philadelphia International - with a change of planes in Pittsburgh. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2016, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shortest-commercially-available-flight/687442/69 "2016-09-26T22:58:20Z")
> [@jtur88](#): > > I just found four scheduled flights a day, Belize to Caulker Cay, scheduled as 5 minute flights: > > 2:40 PM – 2:45 PM > Belize City (BZE) – Caye Caulker (CUK) > Moldavian Airlines 2160 · Cessna (Light) > Propeller plane > 0h 05m > No Wi-Fi > > Kind of a bummer with no Wi-Fi – tough it out. Props though to whoever thought of calling this outfit _Moldavian_ Airlines. ---
**Author:** ![Mangosteen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Mangosteen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangosteen)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2016, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shortest-commercially-available-flight/687442/70 "2016-09-26T23:05:18Z")
> [@Onomatopoeia](#): > > I flew the opposite way last month: Moorea to Tahiti on Air Tahiti. The flight took 10 minutes. That was the shortest regularly scheduled flight I have ever taken. Must have been a headwind. ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2016, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shortest-commercially-available-flight/687442/71 "2016-09-26T23:16:47Z")
The world’s shortest domestic flight is currently the mile-long journey from Westray to Papa Westray in Scotland’s Orkey Islands, which can take as little as 47 seconds, depending on wind direction. A bidding war over the route was settled in 2013, with the contract being awarded to Scottish airline Loganair, its current operator. > **[World’s shortest international flight set to launch in October](https://www.dailymail.co.uk/travel/travel_news/article-3799904/Airline-announces-world-s-shortest-international-flight-13-mile-journey-taking-just-EIGHT-MINUTES.html)** > > The quick trip, being sold by People's Viennaline, takes passengers from St Gallen in Switzerland to Friedrichshafen in Germany. Article I cited on this resurrection. ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Feldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lord_feldon/32/341_2.png) [@Lord\_Feldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Feldon)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2016, 7:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shortest-commercially-available-flight/687442/72 "2016-09-27T07:14:27Z")
> [@JRDelirious](#): > > Props though to whoever thought of calling this outfit _Moldavian_ Airlines. I think that’s an error in whatever database that came from. A Belizean airline called Maya Island Air uses the code (2M) that used to be assigned to Moldavian Airlines. ---
**Author:** ![penultima\_thule](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/penultima_thule/32/3833_2.png) [@penultima\_thule](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/penultima_thule)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2016, 11:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shortest-commercially-available-flight/687442/73 "2016-09-27T11:11:10Z")
> [@Colophon](#): > > I don’t think you will beat Westray to Papa Westray though! Pilot asks the con-tower for permission to take-off. Contower operator says “Yes”, picks up a pair of binoculars and says “I can give you permission to land too” ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2016, 11:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shortest-commercially-available-flight/687442/74 "2016-09-27T11:36:22Z")
That Belize flight can still be booked today at Kayak, under Tropic Air, listed as an 8-minue flight. [https://www.kayak.com/flights/BZE-CUK/2017-04-13](https://www.kayak.com/flights/BZE-CUK/2017-04-13) ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2016, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shortest-commercially-available-flight/687442/75 "2016-09-28T15:25:30Z")
Back in the dim days of my childhood, TransTexas Airways used to offer service between what is now Hobby Airport in Houston and Galveston. Physical distance is about 40 miles, and even in the old DC3s they used to fly, it didn’t take long. And IIRC, Continental used to have an express service from Hobby up to Intercontinental. The flight would come into one or the other, then fly to the other, then fly out to wherever. This was jet service for a distance of 30 miles or so. I don’t think it lasted for very long. ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2016, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shortest-commercially-available-flight/687442/76 "2016-09-29T00:22:12Z")
> [@penultima\_thule](#): > > Pilot asks the con-tower for permission to take-off. > Contower operator says “Yes”, picks up a pair of binoculars and says “I can give you permission to land too” The old “now entering…”/“now leaving…” one either side of city limits sign. ---
**Author:** ![Whiskey\_Dickens](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/9fc348/32.png) [@Whiskey\_Dickens](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whiskey_Dickens)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2016, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shortest-commercially-available-flight/687442/77 "2016-09-29T14:05:56Z")
My entry is Toronto to Niagara-on-the-Lake. 32 miles from airport to airport over Lake Ontario. This flight was offered because to take the trip by car requires you to drive around the lake (meaning about a 75 mile drive) and through massive traffic. The car trip can take 1.25 hours or 3 hours depending on the traffic situation. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2016, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shortest-commercially-available-flight/687442/78 "2016-09-29T16:47:14Z")
> [@Rick](#): > > You can fly United Express from John Wayne (SNA) to LAX maybe 40 miles or so. You can also catch a flight from LAX to Ontario, which despite the short distance can be shockingly pricey. You cannot, I don’t believe, fly from Ontario to John Wayne. ---
**Author:** ![Mk\_VII](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Mk\_VII](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mk_VII)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2016, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shortest-commercially-available-flight/687442/79 "2016-09-29T19:50:03Z")
A friend (now dead) recalled doing Miami to Key West, just being a giant hop, in an old DC-3. ---
**Author:** ![Buttercup\_Smith](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/buttercup_smith/32/473_2.png) [@Buttercup\_Smith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Buttercup_Smith)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2016, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shortest-commercially-available-flight/687442/80 "2016-10-01T18:22:07Z")
The current KW to Miami flight is about 45 mins total. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shortest-commercially-available-flight/687442.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shortest-commercially-available-flight/687442.md?page=5)