If aviation were an endurance sport, there'd be a new reigning champ.
As of this week, the longest flight in the world is now operated by Qatar Airways, whose new 9,032-mile service between the carrier's hometown of Doha and New Zealand takes 16 hours and 10 minutes to reach Auckland, and a tush-mushifying 17 hours and 30 minutes to come back.
That beats the previous record-holder, Emirates, which flies from Auckland to Dubai in a mere 17 hours and 20 minutes.
The new ultra-long haul fits in with the ongoing push to position Doha as a travel hub—an effort that recently helped the city earn a spot on our list of the best places to visit in 2017. (Of course, New Zealand has plenty of charms in its own right.)
Spending more than 17 hours on a plane wouldn't be so bad if you could be ensconced in one of the posh apartments in first class that Middle East carriers are known for. If you book a seat in economy for a marathon flight, you might want to follow our guide to surviving the experience with both your sanity and circulatory system in full working order.