The Longest Direct Flight Out of Texas Is 4th Longest in The World

Everything is bigger in Texas, including, in this case, direct flights. While it's not the longest direct flight in the world, we Texans can rest easy knowing that it is Top 5.

Beginning in October, we can fly from The Lone Star State on a 17-hour flight Down Under. That's when American Airlines announced that it would start its direct flight from Dallas to Brisbane. This will be the first time that the two major cities have been connected by non-stop service.

The route, according to Yahoo, from "the heart of Texas and the Australian east coast, will likely cover over 8,000 miles, with an average flight time expected to exceed 17 hours." That's a long time to spend on a plane.

That's a long time, but they've thought of ways to accommodate passengers. Aerotime reports that passengers will have the choice of flying in "newly redesigned Flagship Suite (first class) seats, or in the premium economy and economy class cabins."

“American is thrilled to grow our international network to give customers more ways to escape the cold next winter,” said Brian Znotins, American’s Senior Vice President of Network and Schedule Planning. “Together with Qantas, customers can enjoy more ways to explore new destinations across one of the most comprehensive networks connecting the United States and the South Pacific.”

The Boeing aircraft that will be used for the flight has been reconfigured with the airline’s new luxury “Flagship Suite” seats.

These types of flights are referred to as long-haul flights, and they have been getting steadily longer over the past decade. Thanks to new technology nonstop flight times have now pushed past the 18-hour mark. Any flight over 12 hours is defined as ultra-long-haul.