Korean Air broke its longest nonstop flight record since its establishment in 1969 by operating a cargo-only flight.
Korean Air announced on June 14 that its cargo flight KE8047 departing Incheon International Airport at 9:14 p.m. on June 12 flew 13,405km directly for 14 hours and 42 minutes and arrived at Miami Airport in the U.S.
So far, Korean Air's longest flight was 12,547 kilometers of distance from Incheon to Atlanta in the U.S., with a flight time of 13 hours and 50 minutes.
Korean Air's record breaking is the result of overcoming the COVID-19 crisis. Korean Air has been transporting cargo by aircraft that have removed passenger seats since last year to overcome the drop in passenger demand due to COVID-19.
A cargo-only flight Boeing 777-300ER was deployed on the direct route from Incheon to Miami to transport COVID-19 diagnostic kits. Korean Air operates regular cargo flights six times a week to Miami, the hub of South American route.
Since last year, Korean Air has overcome the COVID-19 crisis with an innovative reverse idea of diverting non-operating passenger flights to cargo-only flights. From March last year to the end of last month, a total of 8,300 cargo-only flights have been operated.
