The longest commercial passenger flight from China will take you to Mexico City

By Kathleen Magramo and Hassan Tayir, CNN

(CNN) — China Southern Airlines is launching its first-ever direct passenger flight from the megacity of Shenzhen to Mexico City, which will set the record as the longest nonstop regular commercial flight to originate in China.

The flight will cover an intercontinental distance of around 14,147 kilometers (8,790 miles) in each direction.

The inaugural flight will depart from the Chinese southern metropolis of Shenzhen on May 11, making a 16-hour nonstop journey to Mexico City, according to information available from China Southern Airlines. The flight will depart on Tuesdays and Saturdays.

Flying the other way around is a little more grueling, with an estimated flight time of 21 hours and 20 minutes. It will begin service on Wednesdays and Sundays from May 12.

The slightly longer route to China includes a brief refueling stopover at Tijuana, during which passengers have to stay on board.

The roundtrip journey uses the flight code CZ8031/2 and will be serviced by Airbus A350 aircraft, according to reporting from SZ News, a state-affiliate news outlet based in Shenzhen.

The upcoming route overtakes China Southern Airlines’ Guangzhou to New York flight, which covers a distance of 12,871 kilometers, as the furthest nonstop commercial flight to depart from a Chinese airport.

Currently, the 15,332 kilometer Singapore to New York route operated by Singapore Airlines claims the top spot as the world’s longest nonstop flight, which runs around 19 hours in each direction.

China Southern Airline’s newest route would knock out Singapore Airlines’ Singapore to Los Angeles flight to take 8th place on the list of the world’s longest flights compiled by aviation analytics database OAG.

Last year, China reopened its borders to travelers for the first time since the onset of the coronavirus pandemic in early 2020. Airlines have since been restoring flight routes that were halted or greatly reduced during the pandemic, particularly long-haul legs to the United States and all over Europe.

China Southern Airlines was the first-ever Chinese carrier to operate flights to Mexico, launching the Guangzhou-Vancouver-Mexico City route in April 2017, according to reports from Chinese state media agency Xinhua at the time.

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