Longest direct flight from Texas is the fourth longest in the world

Everything is bigger in Texas, including direct flights in this case. While it’s not the longest direct flight in the world, we Texans can rest easy knowing it’s in the top five.

Starting in October, we’ll be able to take a 17-hour flight from the Lone Star State to Down Under. That’s when American Airlines announced it would begin a direct flight from Dallas to Brisbane. This will be the first time that the two cities will be connected by a non-stop service.

The route, according to Yahoo, from “the heart of Texas and the east coast of Australia will likely be over 8,000 miles long, with average flight time expected to exceed 17 hours.” That’s a long time to spend on a plane.

While that’s a long time, options have been considered for how to accommodate passengers. Aerotime reports that passengers will have the choice of flying in “redesigned Flagship Suite seats (First Class) or in the Premium Economy and Economy Class cabins.”

“American is excited to expand our international network to offer our customers even more ways to escape the cold next winter,” said Brian Znotins, American’s senior vice president of network and schedule planning. “Together with Qantas, our customers will be able to explore new destinations in even more ways, on one of the most comprehensive networks connecting the United States to the South Pacific.”

The Boeing aircraft used for the flight was equipped with the airline’s new luxurious “Flagship Suite” seats.

These types of flights are called long-haul flights and have become increasingly longer over the last decade. Thanks to new technologies, non-stop flight times are now over 18 hours. Any flight over 12 hours is defined as ultra-long-haul.