The Austrian People’s Air Group started up its new flight connection from St. Gallen-Altenrhein, Switzerland to Friedrichshafen over Lake Constance at 6:30am on Wednesday. It beat the previously held world record of 10 minutes for a flight from Vienna to Bratislava.
Travelling just 20 kilometres, the journey is over in what may feel like the blink of an eye, though it is eight minutes to be exact. The airline will travel the route each way twice a day. A one-way ticket between the two stops costs €40.
Alternatively, travellers could drive the roughly 63 kilometres between the two airports by car around Lake Constance, which would take an hour. Or they could sit through a two-hour lakeside train ride.
The airline says driving around the lake for an hour would produce as much emissions as the short flight.
The stop in Friedrichshafen is meant to be a layover for passengers going to or from Cologne-Bonn airport.
“This stopover will benefit both tourists and commuters working on both sides of the lake and, of course, it is also likely to become a must in every aviation enthusiast's logbook,” Danel Steffen, CEO of Austrian People's Air Group, told CNN.
On Tuesday, Emirates announced it will operate the shortest A380 route in the world, flying from Doha to Dubai from December this year.
With a flight distance of only 379km, a one-way flight will last for less than an hour which means the A380 could make almost 20 return flights without refuelling.
