Qatar Airways Middle-Eastern airline announces new 18½-hour flight that could be world's longest direct flight

Qatar Airways has announced a new route between Doha, Qatar and Auckland, New Zealand which would become the world's longest direct flight.

If indications are anything to go by, then 2016 could be the year when the record for the world's longest direct flight gets broken.

Qatar Airways has announced a new route between Doha, Qatar and Auckland, New Zealand which would become the world's longest direct flight.

The announcement was made by Qatar CEO Akbar Al Baker during an interview with Bloomberg Business at last week's Bahrain Air Show.

According to Bloomberg, a Boeing 777-LR aircraft would be used to make the trip and it can carry 259 passengers.

The current holder for the longest nonstop flight is Australia's Qantas Airline which runs for  16 hours and 55 minutes (8,577 miles/13,804 km) between Dallas-Fort Worth and Sydney.

Several other airlines are however in a bid to beat this record as last year, Emirates Airline announced a forthcoming route from Dubai to Panama City, Panama and would last 17 hours and 35 minutes.

Also,  Singapore Airlines, which held the record for the longest nonstop flight until 2013, announced a  possible resumption of its nearly 19-hour flights between New York and Singapore.