evangilder
"Shooter"
HONG KONG (AFP) - A Boeing 777 Worldliner jet took off from Hong Kong in a bid for the the longest-ever flight for a commercial jet, 23 hours to London flying east over North America.
The company, locked in a bitter battle with European rival Airbus for the lucrative long-haul aviation market, said a demonstration model of the new 777-200LR had headed east rather than the usual western route over Russia.
The journey, which began at 10:30pm (1430 GMT), is expected to last about 23 hours and cover more than 20,100 kilometres (12,500 miles), Boeing said.
"Boeing is set to make aviation history," Lars Andersen, vice president in charge of the 777 program at Boeing Commercial Airplanes, said before take-off.
"We are going to set a new long-distance, non-stop record for commercial planes."
The plane, powered by General Electric aircraft engines, took off with a full load of fuel and carrying 35 people, including airline executives, journalists and clients as well as crew members.
It is scheduled to land at London's Heathrow airport around 1330 GMT on Thursday.
The current record for a commercial jetliner flight was set in 1989 by a Boeing 747-400 that flew 17,000 kilometres non-stop from London to Sydney.
The company, locked in a bitter battle with European rival Airbus for the lucrative long-haul aviation market, said a demonstration model of the new 777-200LR had headed east rather than the usual western route over Russia.
The journey, which began at 10:30pm (1430 GMT), is expected to last about 23 hours and cover more than 20,100 kilometres (12,500 miles), Boeing said.
"Boeing is set to make aviation history," Lars Andersen, vice president in charge of the 777 program at Boeing Commercial Airplanes, said before take-off.
"We are going to set a new long-distance, non-stop record for commercial planes."
The plane, powered by General Electric aircraft engines, took off with a full load of fuel and carrying 35 people, including airline executives, journalists and clients as well as crew members.
It is scheduled to land at London's Heathrow airport around 1330 GMT on Thursday.
The current record for a commercial jetliner flight was set in 1989 by a Boeing 747-400 that flew 17,000 kilometres non-stop from London to Sydney.